I thought I knew what love was
by HooksDuckling
Summary: Emma Swan is in a relation with Neal Cassidy but things are not going so well anymore. Then she meets Killian Jones. Can he save her from the monster Neal is becoming or is it to late for Emma to find true love?
1. Chapter 1

**AN:This is my first fanfiction ever. Wanted to write a fanfiction for a long time but I never had the courage to do so. Then this idea popped into my head and I just went for it.**

 **Since English isn't my moth** **er tongue I had a very good friend of mine help me out with any grammar mistakes. If there's still a mistake in this story it's my own fault.**

 **If you want to read more, leave a review at the bottom of the page.**

 **I don't own any of the characters!**

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Chapter 1

Emma's shift started in 10 minutes. She puts on her work clothes: a short shorts and a t-shirt. Her boss Regina, owner of the bar The Jolly Roger, wants her bartenders to dress like that. Pretty woman in tiny shorts sell, Regina always says. Emma didn't mind as long as she was behind the bar. When she first started the job she had to pick up empty glasses from tables and of course some men had some wandering hands.

She brushed her hair and walked into the bar to start her shift. The bar was filled with people in good moods, Saturday was always the busiest day of the week. One of her favorite songs was playing and with a huge smile she started with taking orders from costumers. "Love, two beers please" a man ordered. She was used to men calling her names such as "sweetheart" or "beautiful" but never has she been called "love". She looked closely at the guy, he was new. She'd never seen him in here. He was around 30 years old, dressed in jeans and a black t-shirt. He wasn't bad looking at all, nice scruff on his face and his arms revealed that he worked out quite frequently."Anything else?" She said while giving him his ordered beers. "No love, this will be all." He smiled at here,picked up the beers and walked to his friend. She shook her head with a smile and took the order of a Middle aged woman.

She quickly forgot about him until she took a small break to drink some water. She looked around the bar to see more and more people come in. It wouldn't take long until the bar was to full. But the costumers didn't mind the crowdedness of the place, everyone was smiling and dancing. She saw him in a corner, along with his friend and two ladies. By the looks of it they weren't planning on going home alone tonight.

She saw him turning around, heading for the bar to order again. She waited until he reached her and smiled at him. "Hello love, two beers please." He smiled back at her while ordering. "And what do the ladies like to drink?" She asked. "Wait, am I supposed to give them drinks? I thought my attention would lead them to wherever I want them." "Oh boy, what a gentleman you are." She couldn't help but tease him a bit, like he apparently did with her. "Love, I'm always a gentleman. Two white wines for the ladies please." She took two wine glasses, filled them up and placed them beside his beers. "Keep the change love." He winked at her, picked up the glasses and headed back to his corner again. The night quickly ended, it felt like she only worked for 5 minutes. The last costumers walked out the door,time to clean the place up.

Work was done. It was 6 am, time to go home. But she didn't intend on going home. She took her work clothes off and changed into jeans, a sweater, and sneakers. Her feet were killing her. She said goodbye to her colleagues, packed her bag and left the bar. The streets were filled with drunk, laughing people who were on their way home. Or going for a bite to eat, like her.

She walked into granny's, the place she always came after work. "Morning Emma, same as usual?" Granny said. "Morning granny, yes please." She walked to the end of the diner and sat in her own booth, in the corner. She didn't want any crowd and here she could sit in peace.

After a while granny brought her order. She gave her a smile and took a huge zip from her freshly squeezed orange juice. Her usual meal was toasted bread with scrambled eggs. She's been coming here for a year now. She didn't doubt about the rest of Granny's menu, she just stuck with this.

After a while more visitors came in, loud and drunk but cheerful."Hey love,didn't recognize you without your shorts and t-shirt" an foreign accent draw her attention and when she looked up she saw the guy from the bar. "Are you following me?" She asked him with a little smile. "No love, I wasn't. You're beautiful but it is pure coincidence that I bumped into you here. Me and my mate wanted to eat something and this place was highly , the person who recommended it to you was right, this is the best place in town to eat. And not just because it's the only place open this early in the morning."

She took some money out of her pocket and places it underneath her empty glass. By now she knew precisely what her meal costs were and granny trusted her enough.

"Are you leaving love?" "Yes sir, I have to go home." He looked at her like he was disappointed. "What a shame, I wanted to ask if you wanted to join me and my friend. I could buy you another orange juice if you like." He turned around to point at his friend who was trying to read the menu but was clearly to drunk to do so. Emma smiled as she saw the look of annoyance on Granny's face.

"What happened to the ladies? Did they ditch you?" She stood up to put on her red leather jacket. "As a matter of fact, they did! Can you believe that? I'm guessing I was a bit too much of a gentleman after all." By the smile he was giving her she knew he was teasing her. "You poor lad, I'm guessing you don't get ditched that very often." He shrugged as an answer. "Why don't you stay love?" He asked as he came closer to her. "I promise it will be fun. Or do you have a mister waiting for you at home, warming up the bed?" He raised his eyebrow, his eyes filled with joy. Goodness, that was attractive! "As a matter of fact I do, sorry. But enjoy your breakfast." She smiled at him, picked up her car keys and tried not to rush out to quickly as she said goodbye to Granny. When she was almost at her car she heard his voice. "Love, you forgot your phone!" She closed her eyes, thinking how she could be so stupid. "Thank you." She said as she turned around. "No problem, love. Just wanted to show you what a gentleman I am." What was it with this man? And why did he keep calling her love? She took the phone, got in the car and drove off while the stranger was watching going around the corner.

She could feel the tiredness taking over as her phone started to beep, telling her she had a text message. Surprised someone texted her this early on a sunday morning she picked up the phone.

"Sleep well love, it was nice meeting you. Killian"

What the? How did he get her number? That sneaky bastard must have called his own phone with hers when she left it on the table.

"Having my number does not give you any discount at the bar mister!"

Just a few seconds later her phone beeped again.

"Darn it! That bar prices are way to high! No love, I'm not after any kind of discount. Just giving you my number just in case things don't work out between you and mister bed "

What did she even had to think about this guy, this Killian? She didn't know him at all and she was perfectly happy with her boyfriend Neal. She laid down her phone as she was almost home, quickly forgetting about that guy as she had gotten real tired.


	2. Chapter 2

**AN: I am seriously so overwhelmed with all the lovely comments I'm getting on twitter and on FF. Never thoughed people would actually like my story! Thank you all so much!**

 **As usuall I would like to thank my dear friend R. for being my grammar checker. Without here this story would look like on big mess. If there is still a mistake you can all blame me**

 **I am gonna try to update chapters as soon as possible but on the other hand I don't want to post to soon after the previous one because I don't want to rush it. Please be patient, I hope it will be worth it in the end. I'm posting this chapter sooner than I thought because I wanted to give you all something to show my appreciation for all the lovely and kind words. Enjoy and leave a comment below with what you think of it!**

 **I do not own any of this** **characters.**

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Chapter 2

She parked her yellow bug in front of their apartment, happy she got home. All she wanted to do was sleep. As she opened the door she could smell it already. The smell of alcohol went through every corner of the house. "Oh no, not again." She took off her shoes and opened the door to the living room. She shouldn't be surprised to see the entire table filled with empty beer bottles but she did freak out about it.

Three weeks ago Neal lost his job as journalist. He was always a fan of drinking but it was always on the weekends only. After he met his new friend, August, it quickly went downhill. It started with just a few drinks during the week and now he was at a crate of beer practically every day. It wasn't always fun to see him so drunk but she kept believing it would work out once he had a new job. She kept telling him to search for one but for now he doesn't want to. After a fight she let the subject go.

She walked into the bedroom and found Neal laying in a position where he took up the whole bed. She didn't even bother to push him aside, she was to tired for it. She took her stuff and walked to the guest room to sleep there. She climbed into the bed and even before her head hit the pillow, sleep has taking her into his power.

She woke up by the sound of glass breaking and Neal's voice swearing some horrible stuff. A look on her watch told her it was 4PM already. She pushed herself out of the bed and walked toward the sound. "Neal, what are you doing?" She asked when she saw the empty bottles broken into pieces on the floor. "I tripped over an empty bottle on the floor and fell on the table. These stupid things don't even belong here, they need to go back into the crate once you've finished them. Why didn't you cleaned up before you went to bed?" He looked at her with anger and it was evident he was still clearly hungover. "Excuse me? I worked all night and when I got home I was pretty exhausted. And these aren't my bottles, you know how to clean up after yourself." She sighed and headed for the bathroom.

Right now she needed a shower instead of an argument with Neal. Once he had some coffee he would be nicer she thought. She turned the water on and heard Neal going through the kitchen cabinets to find the coffee. She even heard the sound of bottles being placed into the crate. " _Wow, he's cleaning his stuff up. That's a first."_ She thought as she enjoyed the hot water on her skin. "Em, you want some coffee too?" Neal asked her. "Yes please." She gets herself dressed and sat down next to Neal on the couch. "I am sorry Emma, I didn't mean to yell at you about cleaning up my shit." Neal said as he laid his arm over her right shoulder and pulled her closer to him. "That's alright, I know how you are in the morning." She looked up to him and gave him a little kiss. "This hangover is killing me." he said. "Maybe you shouldn't be drinking so much Neal. Then you wouldn't feel like this." she said trying to make him see reason. "Damn Emma, are you really starting this now? I just told you I have a massive hangover and you're gonna tell me I shouldn't drink this much? I know what I'm doing and if I want to drink I'll drink!" He stood up angry and walked towards the bathroom. "I'm gonna take a shower." He said before he closed the room. Emma sighed, she was not in the mood for a fight. She took out her phone and send her friend Mary Margaret a text.

 _Where are you? Wanna go out for an ice cream at Elsa's?  
_  
A minute later she got a text back saying Mary Margaret was on her way and that she would meet her there. Without saying where she was going she packed her bag and walked out the front door. She opened the door of her car and heard Neal shouting from the balcony. "Em? Where do you think you're going?" "Neal get back inside, I'm going to see Mary Margaret." She started the car and drove off without looking back at him.

While driving she thought back to the time Neal wasn't drinking so much. Her and Neal met at Elsa's a year and a half ago. Her and her friend Ruby, who's also her colleague, should have been going for a drink at the diner but Ruby didn't feel so good so she stayed in bed. Instead Emma went to the ice cream shop and as she opened the door she bumped into Neal, who was on his way out. Of course she managed to bump into him so that his ice cream fell on the ground. "Goodness, I'm so sorry!" She said as she looked to the ground. "Don't worry, it's just an ice cream."He replied. "Let me buy you a new one." She said as she looked into his eyes, she felt for him immediately. So she bought him a new ice cream and one for herself. They both walked out together and kept talking while walking through town. After two hours he had to go but not without her phone number and a promise that she would go on a date with him. She gladly gave her number and was even more happy about him asking her out on a date. After that their relationship progressed extremely fast. They had their first date two days after the ice cream accident at Geppeto's, the best and only Italian restaurant in town. They reserved a table for 7 pm and they stayed until the restaurant closed. Neal insisted on walking her home and at the front door he gave her a goodnight kiss. Normally she didn't kiss on the first date, she had never even invited anyone in so quickly before. But with Neal it just felt right. They spent the night together and after that they were inseparable. After six months he moved into her apartment, he was already at her place 24/7. It seemed like the right thing to do as it kept feeling right. Maybe they did moved in together too quickly. But she kept believing that Neal's drinking problem had to do with him losing his job. Their relationship hasn't changed. Okay, he yelled at her from time to time but she took that in strike,thinking many couples faught and argued. He would find a new job soon and then things would go back to the way they were.

She parked her car in front of Elsa's, Mary Margaret was already waiting for her. "Emma! So glad to see you! It's been so long ago." Her friend gave her a hug and Emma smiled. "Hi Mary Margaret. It has been a while indeed! I've been so busy lately with work and all. How are you?" They sat down at a table by the window so they could look out over the street. "I'm doing just fine. David and I are planning on going to New York this Christmas actually." Mary Margaret said as she picked up the menu. "Really? That's awesome! I've always wanted to go to New York, especially at Christmas or around New Years." Emma was genuily happy for her friend. They had been talking about New York for years, ever since they became friends in high school. "Why don't you come with us Emma? Ever since I've met you,you have wanted to go and you deserve a break. You've been working so hard and things with Neal...aren't all that great at the moment." The waitress came and they ordered their ice cream, Emma didn't even have to look at the menu, she always ordered chocolate flavored ice cream. "I know things are rough now." She said while she sighed. "But once he has a job again things will be better." "But has even been searching for a job?"Mary Margaret asked. "I don't know actually, I sure hope so. But every time I bring the subject on he gets cranky and I don't want to start a fight. You know I don't like confrontations."

The waitress came back with their orders and Emma took a bite. "I know you don't but still Emma. You can't do everything on your own while he sits around basically doing nothing." Mary Margaret looked at her friend, knowing Emma was strong. But even Emma had a line that could be crossed. And she had the idea that line was going to be crossed soon. "Just think about it Em, I'm sure David would love for you to join us as well." "Okay, I'll think about it and have a talk with Neal about it." She took another bite of her ice cream and looked out the window, thinking about what her friend just said.

A man with a very familiar face came walking towards them, where did she now this guy from? As the man saw her, his eyebrow raised up and she knew it. It was Killian! Quickly she looked back at Mary Margaret, covering up the left side of her face with her hand. As she hoped he didn't see her she heard the bell ringing, warning the staff that someone came in. "Hello love, nice to see you again." The familiar voice said. "I'm really starting to think you are stalking me." She looked at him and he grinned. "You never know love, you just never know."


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: Thank you all so much for the lovely comments, reviews, follows and favorites. The last week I didn't had much time to write because, you know, life got in the way. But next week my vacation starts so hopefull I'll find enough time to write again. And maybe I'll even post twice a week instead of ones!**

 **As usuall I would like to thank my good friend R for checking my grammar mistakes. Luckily there aren't so many :D If there is still any mistake or misspelling in this chapter it's all because of me.**

 **I hope you guys like this chapter (you can leave a review at the end of this page), I know it's rather short then the previous two chapters. Things get a little more interesting after this chapter. I hope I can post a new chapter soon. In the meanwhile, enjoy this chapter!**

 **I do not own any of these characters or the show itself.**

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Chapter 3

When she got home from Elsa's she noticed that Neal wasn't home. He left her a note saying he was out with August. _"Great, another drunk night."_ She thought as she threw herself on the couch. On the other hand, she finally had some time alone. She thought about her fight with Neal and if she wanted to go on with this. She still loves him but his drinking problem had to stop. As soon as possible. She thought about Mary Margaret's invite to come to New York with her and David. She hates it when she's the third wheel but she could use a break from all of this.  
She sighed, didn't know what to do or to think of all of this. To keep her mind of of things she got up to do the dishes. It looked like that hadn't been done in ages. She took out her phone to put on some music and noticed she had a text. From Killian again.

 _Got anything to do tonight,love? If not, wanna go out for some harmless pizza?_

Seriously? He wants to grab pizza with her? What does he want from her? He knows she's in a relationship.

 _By the looks of it I'll be busy all evening doing the dishes._

 _Need some help with that? Or is your bed warmer at home? If he is home he could at least help you out... I won't do anything you don't want, it's just an harmless pizza eating/get to know each other dinner._

She laughed at that text. He kept calling Neal bed warmer. That name suits him since it's all he did the last few weeks. And he was only warming it for himself.

 _And why exactly do we have to get to know each other better? Doesn't your friend have any spare time left?_

 _Nah,Graham is out of town and since I'm new in this town and could use some friends I thought of you. I swear I'll be nice to you!_

Without even thinking about it she texted him back.

 _Just tell me where and when and I'll be there. As long as your being nice that is! If you're gonna try something I'm out._

 _As you wish love. Geppeto's at 7?_

She texted him back saying she would be there and looked at the clock. It was 5pm so she had enough time to do at least some of the dishes and change her clothes.  
While doing the dishes she gave it some thought. Was she doing the right thing? Should she have pizza with Killian, even if it was harmless? She would tell him to not even think about doing anything. Things might not be so great now but she wouldn't turn her back on Neal.

After dishes were done she changed her clothes, packed her bag and drove of to Geppeto's. She arrived 10 minutes to early and she didn't know if he would be there already. She didn't even know if he made reservations for them. So she took a deep breath and got out the car. She waited for him outside and took out her phone to text him that she was already there. After a few minutes she got a text back, he would be there in five minutes.

Her phone beeped again, it was Neal.

 _Ems, don't wait up for me. I'll probably be home late. I miss you!_

Of course he would be home late, he was always home late. She didn't want to think about him now so she tugged her phone away and looked up to see if she saw Killian yet. A small smile spread across her face as she saw him walking him towards her. "Hey love, you look beautiful tonight." He smiled at her and for a second she thought he would kiss her on her cheek. Why exactly did her cheeks turn a bit red? Instead,he reached for the doorknob and opened the door for her. "Look at you, being all gentlemanly again. And you look good too." She said as she looked at him better. He was wearing a dark jeans with a blue shirt, blue was definitely his color, and some sneakers. She loved guys wearing jeans and sneakers.

"I told you love, I'm always a gentleman." A waiter came their way and led them to their table. It was a table near the window and the waiter pulled back her chair so she had some room to sit down. When Emma sat down properly Killian sat down in the chair opposite hers. "Lovely place this is. Have you been here before?" He took the menu out but instead of looking at it he looked at her. "Yes I have been here before. Me and Neal, bed warmer to you, used to come here quite often." "Used to? So you don't come here anymore? What happened?" She knew he would ask this as soon as she said she used to come her before. "Things have changed." She said while pouring in some water in the glass in front of her. "I see. Things aren't going so well?" She suddenly became nervous, this was going into the wrong direction. Did she even have a direction she wanted to go with him? What was she even doing here? "I don't see why that's any of your business." To calm herself a bit down she took a sip of the water. "You're right lass. Things between you and the bed warmer are none of my business." "Could you please stop calling him bed warmer? His name is Neal!" Before he could even reply the waiter came to take their orders. When he walked away to give the orders to the kitchen Emma didn't know how to behave. She looked down at her hands instead of looking at him, her cheeks red as a tomato. "I'm sorry love, please don't be mad. We'll talk about something else instead of bed...Neal." She looked up at him, his eyes filled with some guilt." "I'm not mad, I'm nervous." "And why is that love? I told you I'll be nice and this is absolutely harmless. Like I said, I'm new to this town and all I'm looking for is some sort of friendship." It was his turn to take a sip from his glass and as he did so she looked him straight in his eyes. His eyes were like the ocean, perfectly blue and the most brightest she had ever seen. If she wasn't careful enough she could easily drown in them.

"And where exactly are you from? You have a foreign accent." He started to laugh a bit. "I've been in the states for quite a while now, 6 years to be exact. I thought I would get rid of this accent. I moved here from Ireland after a difficult time back home. I sure miss my old town but America has grown on me as they say." She wondered what he meant with "a difficult time" but like her he wasn't talking about something that private.  
"And what drove you to the states? I mean,out of all the countries you could have moved to, why did you chose America?" "That's true,love. I have always wanted to go to America. As a little kid I dreamed of going to this country and live the American dream. So when things happened I quit my job,packed my bags and just took off." The waiter came back with their pizza's, they smelt delicious. Goodness, she has missed this place. Several pizzeria's have tried to make better pizza's then Geppeto's but no one succeeded. She took a bite and it tasted so good. She let out a little growl, this was so good. "My my love, you sound like you haven't had such a good thing in a long time." Killian smiled at her and she laughed back. "I've missed this so much, it sure has been a long time since I had one of these. Try yours, I'm sure it's delicious." Killian took a bite and she waited until the taste took over him. "This is a damn good pizza,lass!" "I hate to say this but I told you so."  
While eating their pizza she learned that Killian worked downtown as a photographer, lives two blocks away from here and loves to go sailing on his free time. She on the other hand didn't tell him very much. She has a problem with opening up to people, even Neal doesn't know everything. She only told him how long she was dating Neal, that he doesn't have to think about trying anything with her and that she's not like most girls. She wasn't into dresses and all other girl stuff. "That's okay love, others might be scared by your restraint but I love a challenge." She laughed loudly when he said that but she could tell by his face that he was deadly serious. Suddenly she had the feeling someone was watching her. When she looked out the window her face looked like she had seen a ghost.

"Who's that?" Killian asked. "That's...Neal." She whispered as she kept looking outside at Neal's angry and drunk face.


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: So, chapter 4 already. Things will get more interesting after this chapter & since the weather is great and I'm on holidays, chapter 5 might be posted really soon!**

 **At the moment I'm writing chapter 8 and I have to say that I have no clue of where I'm going with this story. I don't want to rush it , it's the first fanfiction ( the first of many I hope) I'm writing and I want it to be perfect. Do not fear to leave a review at the bottom of this chapter I you like it but certainly when you don't like it!**

 **Thank you all for the follows, faves and lovely comments. They mean a lot to me!**

 **As usuall, thanks to my friend R for checking any grammar mistakes! If there is stil any mistake in this chapter it's completely my own fault!**

 **I do not own any of these characters and the show.**

 **Enjoy!**

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Chapter 4

As Neal was about to storm into the restaurant,Emma quickly got on her feet and walked out, Killian following her closely. "Neal, what are you doing here?" Emma asked as she stood in front of him. "That doesn't matter now Emma. What matters is who that is and why you are here with him!" He shouted at her. He didn't only look drunk, he was drunk. The smell of alcohol found it's way into her nose and it was so strong she almost got drunk herself. "I'm Killian, a friend of Emma. I asked her to have pizza with me." Killian stood beside Emma, trying to reason Neal who was completely filled with rage. "I wasn't asking you asshole! Stay away from my girlfriend." Neal pussed Emma aside and looked at Killian. Neal's face was inches away from Killian's and it looked like he wanted to punch him in the face. "Look mate, I get you're mad but it isn't a big thing. We were just eating pizza. Relax dude." Emma got scared as it looked like Neal was just getting more pissed at Killian. "Neal,stop! Let's just go home okay?" Emma sounded desperate and she didn't care. She just wanted this to end. "I'm not your mate dude. I'll tell you one last time,stay away from my girlfriend." "Why don't you just let the lass decide who she wants to hang out with and take another drink? It looks like you didn't quite get enough."

Before Killian could even finish that sentence Emma knew what would happen. Before even knowing what she was doing she stepped between the two men,taking the punch in the face that was meant for Killian. When Neal's fist landed on her cheek she felt more pain then she ever felt in her whole life. And she collected a lot of punches in the past. She hit the ground hard. She could feel blood coming down her face and as she looked at Neal in shock Killian punched him in the nose. He wasn't able to stay on his feet with the amount of alcohol in his blood and he landed on his back. "Neal!" She forgot about her own pain and the fact she got punched by Neal,quickly stood up and rushed towards Neal. "Neal are you alright?" She took his head into her hands and then looked at Killian. "What the hell were you doing? You didn't had to punch him like that!" She shouted at him. He shook his hand to get rid of the pain he felt after hitting Neal and looked at her. "You did not just say that Emma! I mean, he hit you! No man should punch a woman,that's bad form." He looked at her with disbelieve and confusion. Did she really not see what just happened and how bad he is for her? "That punch was meant for you!" Tears came rolling down her face as she tried to clean up the blood that came from Neal's nose. "Look Emma, I'm not sorry I punched him. Even if that was meant for me, he shouldn't have hit you at all." "Killian,please go home. This was all a big mistake okay? I shouldn't have gotten pizza with you. So please, just leave." She tried to get Neal back up his feet but he was so drunk that his body kept falling down. Killian reached out a hand to help her but she pushed it away, she didn't need help from him. Eventually she managed to get Neal up, he was still struggling a bit but that was useless. Killian already left. She sat him down on the passengers seat of her car and buckled him into the safety belt. When she sat down she sighed and took a deep breath before she started her car. Neal was sleeping already, apparently he didn't care about all of this.

 _"Did that really just happen_?" She thought as she drove off. She should have listened to herself better,she shouldn't have gone out with Killian. Neal meant so much to her,she couldn't risk loosing him. Even if he had a drinking problem, before all of this happened he was always there for her. Her life wasn't always easy, she went through enough. When she met Neal she was finally able to love someone. She had lost so many people, she didn't know what to do without them. She didn't care what anyone else said, Neal loves her. He has just shown that, even though it was a very wrong way of proving his love to her but still. Killian did not had the right to punch Neal back,she could take care of herself and Neal was her business. Never would she talk to Killian again, he went way out of line. As so did she,what was she even thinking?

When she parked her car Neal woke up,looking around confused as he tried to figure out where he was. "Emma? Are we home? Why am I in your car and what happened to your face?" Neal asked not remembering what happened. "No need to worry about my face Neal, let's get you cleaned up and into bed. Time to sleep." She got out the car,helped him out as well and dragged him into their house. She laid him on the bed where he instantly fell asleep again. She went to the bathroom to get a towel to clean the blood from his blood. It was already dry and she had to rub hard to clean it off. Neal was so passed out he didn't even noticed it. When she was done she undressed him and laid him underneath the sheets so he wouldn't be cold during the night. She looked at him one last time and silently backed out the room.

She sat herself on the couch an took out her phone. She had a text from Killian but she didn't care. She didn't want anything to do with him ever again. He needs to stay out of her life. She deleted the text without looking at it and called Mary Margaret. "Emma what's wrong? It's 10 PM,are you okay?" She could here the concerns in Mary Margaret's voice and she started to cry again. All Mary Margaret could here was Emma crying. "David,start the car! There's something wrong with Emma,we have to go."

She could here David starting the car which made her cry even harder. She cried her eyes out because she knew her friend immediately knew something was wrong with her. "Hang on Emma, we are on our way. Are you home?" Emma let out a cry. She managed to say yes and hung up the phone. After only 5 minutes she could here David knock on the door. His knock sounded like he would burst through the door any minute. She quickly got up her feet as she didn't want Neal to wake up and opened the door. As she saw her friend she started to cry again which made Mary Margaret hug her tightly. "Let's go in and set you down Emma. David,get some water please. And a towel, there's blood on her face." Mary Margaret took the situation in her hands like a professional and set Emma down gently on the couch again. David came rushing in with the water and a towel. "Emma, what happened? Why is there blood on your pace?" Mary Margaret asked as she cleaned up the blood and tears from her face. "There was a fight between Neal and Killian."

"Killian? The guy we saw at Elsa's? What does he has to do with all of this?" Emma took a sip from the water,took a deep breath and began to tell her friends the whole story. "Oh Emma, I'm so sorry you had to go through all of this." Mary Margaret said while exchanging glance with David. "That Killian guy was right though Emma. Neal shouldn't have punch you." David said. "I know he shouldn't have but he was drunk and mad. I made the choice to step between them, it's my fault. I shouldn't have gone out with Killian." She started sobbing again and Mary Margaret took her in her arms again. "It's not your fault Ems. Neal is old enough to make his own decision as well as you are. I truly believe you agreed going for pizza because you wanted to get to know him better,finding a friend." Mary Margaret looked at David with a look that she wanted him to help her out. "Mary Margaret is right. Neal is old enough and he chose to get drunk and start a fight. I don't want to tell you what you need to do but Emma, lately Neal has made some wrong decisions. Ever since he lost his job he's been drinking more." Emma raised her head to look at David, not believing what he is saying. He doesn't know Neal like Emma does. Once he found a job again things would go back to the way they were. "All I'm saying Emma,is that after four weeks he should be out looking for a job instead of drinking every single day. Of course I don't know him like you so but I have seen the look in your eyes lately and it wasn't the look of happiness."

Somewhere deep inside she knew David and Mary Margaret were right. She just didn't want to see it. She kept saying things will change soon. She wouldn't tell Neal about what happened tonight exactly. She would tell him he hit the door when he came home and he would believe her. And she didn't had to worry about Killian anymore, she would ignore him from now on. And soon Neal would get a job again and things would be all good again. Right?

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 **What do you guys think? Will things be all good again?**


	5. Chapter 5

A/N: **at the moment there are two things going on. First is that I'm experiencing a little writers block with this story. As I am writing chapter 8 I'm starting to think if I am heading into the right direction with it. I hope I can pick up writing that chapter soon again! The second is that I'm writing a second fanfiction that hopefully can be posted soon as well.**

 **As usual I want to thank my good friend R for the grammar check! If there is still a mistake in this chapter/story then I'm the one to blame.**

 **Wanna na wish my friend Malin-Delena a happy birthday! She one of my friends that always encourage me to keep writing & I'm very thankful for that! Hope you're having a magical day sweetie! **

**I do not own any of these characters and the show. Woohoo, filming starts next Wednesday, so excited about that!**

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Chapter 5

A week passed by since the incident at Geppeto's. Neal didn't know what happened that night, she told him he was so drunk when he got home that he hit his head. He was so hungover that he believed her right away.

She hasn't spoken with Killian ever since. He texted her a few times but she ignored him. After two days he stopped.

It was Sunday, the day she normally would be off work. But Ruby called in sick and Regina called her to ask if she could come to work tonight. Since it was sunday she knew there was no change of Killian coming to the bar. He was here last night but she asked Belle, one of her other colleagues to help him with the orders. Every time she saw him coming to the bar she called Belle, who smoothly slide in her way to deal with Killian. He wasn't to happy about that but he stopped trying to talk to her.

On sundays the bar closes at 3 am instead of 5 so she would be home early. Maybe Neal would still be awake and not as drunk as normally. For once she wanted to sleep in her own bed again.

As she said goodbye to her colleagues, she took her bag and walked out the door. She was highly surprised to find Killian waiting for her at her car. "What are you doing here? Hasn't sesame street ended hours ago?" She said to him with sarcasm. "Nice to see you to Emma." He was leaning against the door of her car so she couldn't get in. "I wanted to apologize,even if I did nothing wrong. He shouldn't have hit you but it's not my business." "You're right, it isn't your business. Neal is my boyfriend,my problem. I don't need you to interfere with my life Killian. Now can I please get in my car and go home? I would like to get some sleep." He started to walk towards her. "Go home if you want to go. But you know I'm right when I say that man isn't good enough for you. I don't know you or him but I've seen the look in your eyes last week. You're frightened by him. Did he hit you before?" He asked when he stood right in front of her. "Like I said Killian, none of your business! But if you insist on knowing, no, he has not hit me before. And now I'm going home, goodnight." As she walked around him, towards her car, she felt his hand around her wrist. He turns her around and walks towards her, for every step he's taking forward she steps one back. He keeps walking towards her until she's pressed against her car. "Killian, let me go. Please." She begged him. "I'm letting you go if you really want that. But I can't let you go back to him Emma, he's gonna hurt you." He stood so close she could feel the warm heat of his body against hers. A rush started to develop in her toes and went all the way up her entire body. He leans in closer, his lips almost on hers. "Please Emma, I'm only trying to help you. I don't know why but I feel like I need to protect you." Before she could reply that she doesn't need protection, not from anyone, he pressed his lips on hers. The rush inside her body warmed up into an intense heat. An heat she hasn't felt in a really long time. Before she realized it she answered his kiss, putting her arms around his neck as he opened her lips with his. His tongue slipped into her mouth, softly seeking hers while he moved his hands to her neck,into her hair. A growl left her throat, encouraging Killian to pick up the kiss a bit. Suddenly she pushed him back, feeling guilty about kissing him. "Emma that was..."Killian touched his lips, still feeling her heat on them. "That was a one time thing. Goodnight Killian and don't follow me." She quickly got in her car and drove off with high speed. After a few minutes of driving she parked her car and took some time to think about what happened.

He kissed her! And she kissed him! Why did she do that? She didn't even like Killian, goodness she even hated him! But when he stood so close to her she felt something, she didn't even felt this with Neal. If she wasn't determined before she was definitely now, she never wants to see Killian again. He's gonna ruin every thing with Neal.

She came back to her senses, started her car again and drove home.

When she opened the door she could a mans voice shouting for more beer. "Who is that?" She asked herself before entering the room. "Emma! You're home already! I've missed you!" Neal tried to stood up to hug her but there's no surprise he couldn't. "Yes Neal, it's sunday remember. We always close earlier on sundays." She took of her jacket and hanged it over the chair in the diner room. "Who's your friend?" She asked while getting a glass of water. "Oh yeah,sorry, this is August. August, this is my beautiful girrrrrlfriend Emma." He said with a double tongue. August said nothing, he just looked at her with his eyes half closed and gave her a little nod. "Hello August." She wasn't happy about the fact that this so called friend is in her house. Why did he invite him here? She didn't want that at all. "You boys planning on making it late? Because I'm very tired and I would like to get some proper sleep." She tried to put up a smile but the guys were way to drunk to notice any look she puts on her face. "No Ems, August is going home in about half an hour or so." Neal said while looking at his friend who only nodded once. "Did this guy even know more then 10 words?" She thought as she finished her glass of water. "Alright then, I'm off to bed." She started walking towards her bedroom, happy to be in her own bed for once. As she changed into her pyjama she could here the man laugh very loudly. "Please let them stop soon." She crawled into her bed and if she wanted it or not, her mind wandered back to the kiss Killian and her shared. He sure was a good kisser and thinking about it made her body light up in heat again. Her phone buzzed and of course it was Killian.

 _I'm not sorry for kissing you, I enjoyed every second of it. But I am sorry if I caused any trouble, please forgive me._

 _Goodnight Killian. Please never bother me again._

She turned her phone to silent, turned of the light and closed her eyes. Suddenly she wakes up because Neal is calling her name. "Emma wake up! I'm hungry, make me some food!" Neal was standing beside the bed and yelling at her. It felt like she slept for 5 minutes but when she looked at the clock she was surprised to see that it was 8am in the morning. "Neal! What the hell? Make your own damn food!" She closed her eyes to get back to sleep but Neal kept yelling. "Get up lazy ass woman! Make me something to eat!" He pulled the cheats off of her, throwing them into the corner of the room. "Neal?! What are you doing! Leave me alone." She was wide awake now, standing in front of him. She looked at him, he was so drunk that he was about to fall over. "Neal, this drinking of you has got to stop! You need help! I can't take this any longer." She felt tears of anger behind her eyes, ready to come out when she let them. "Don't you tell me what to do!"Neal hissed at her. "I make my own decisions just like you take yours! You made the choice of not telling me the truth about last week when I saw you with that guy." She looked at him in shock, he was so angry right now. "What are you talking about Neal?" "I'm talking about you and that guy at Geppeto's, the guy you've been seeing behind my back! The guy that punched me on my nose!" He got so angry that he spit out he's words. She pushed him aside so she could walk into the living room. There she found August, passed out on the couch. "Great, that ass is still here." She thought as she looked around the big mess they made. "What is he still doing here?" "Don't change the subject woman, I remember all of it. You are cheating on my you little.." Before he could finish that sentence she ran towards him, punching him on his chest. "Oh yeah? You remember everything you asshole? Do you remember punching me instead of him?" She couldn't control herself, every bit of frustration left her body as she yelled at him. "Of course I remember that. You deserved it! You are mine and nobody else's! You remember that Emma, you are mine!" Suddenly she slapped him in his face, her bare hand against his cheek. "I'm not yours as well! I am not a property, I'm a human of flesh and bones! It's time you start seeing that again. If you don't stop this bullshit Neal and sober up, I'll throw your ass on the streets." Never has she felt so much anger towards anyone as she felt now. What was he thinking, talking to her like that. She deserves some respect. Clearly Neal didn't think that way as he grabbed her hair and pulled her down. "You listen to me Emma, you are not throwing anyone on the streets. Not tonight, not tomorrow, never! Understood?" He pulled her hair some more and she cried out of pain. "Neal, let me go!" She managed to get loos and ran into the bedroom, she needed to call Mary Margaret and David. Now! As she hit the call button Neal grabbed her hair again, throwing her onto the bed, slapping her in her face once. "Neal stop it! You are hurting me!" But Neal couldn't hear her, he was out of control. "Mary Margaret, if you can hear me please help!" She yelled towards the phone that had felt onto the ground, a few inches beside the bed. She saw someone had picked up but she couldn't see who it was. In this case she didn't are who picked up, as long as they came to help her. "You are mine!" Neal shouted with every sound of his bare hand on her face. "Please,someone help me." she kept thinking as she was powerless underneath Neal's grip.


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: good news! Found my writing spirit again! It's just a matter of time until I finish chapter 10 already.**

 **I want to thank everybody for the reviews,follows and favorites. I really means a lot to me. If there is anything you like or don't like, don't be afraid to leave a review at the end of the chapter. Every comment, good or bad is welcome!**

 **As usual I want to thank my friend R for the grammar check. If there is still any mistake in this chapter it's all because of me.**

 **I do not own any of these characters or the show.**

 **Enjoy!**

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Chapter 6

After what felt like hours she finally heard someone banging on the front door. "Police! Open up!" A man yelled. She felt relieved when Neal immediately stopped and climbed off of her in shock. She couldn't move, she felt as if a knife went through her body a hundred times. Suddenly the front door flew open and 4 police officers came running in with their guns pulled out. Neal stood in the corner of the room with his hands up in the air. "Put your hands behind your head and get down on your knees. Now!" One of the officers screamed at him. "Emma, I'm so sorry! I didn't know what I was doing." Neal looked at her with shock and regret in his eyes. He got down on his knees, the officer cuffed him and took him out of the room. She was getting in shock herself. She never thought Neal was capable of doing this. "He really should stop drinking." She thought to herself. One of the officers came walking towards her. "Are you alright Miss Swan?" She looked at him,did he really just asked her that? "Take a look at my face and tell me if I look alright." He ignored her sarcasm and asked if she could get up. He put out his hand to her but she ignored him and tried to get up on her own. However,her legs couldn't carry the weight of her body and she fell back on the bed. The officer told the medical staff to come up stairs.

"Emma! Are you alright?" Mary Margaret came running in, crying and hugged her. She immediately stopped when Emma let out a painful cry. "Mary?" Emma said while holding her tears in. She suddenly didn't know what to say next. She was so happy her friends came to help her. She started to cry and when Mary Margaret wanted to comfort her David came walking in with the medical staff. Mary Margaret got up her feet, ran into David's arms while making room for the medical staff to help Emma. They lifted her up, laid her on the stretcher and rolled her out of the room. Mary and David followed them and outside she saw Killian waiting for her. "Emma are you alright?" He asked and when he saw her face he froze. "Oh Emma, what did he do to you?" He whispered sadly, not able to move anymore. "Killian? What are you doing here? How do you know where I live?" Before he could even answer her questions,they placed the stretcher inside the ambulance. Mary Margaret came in with her and one of the medical staff shuts the door. The ambulance started and Emma looked outside the window in the back door. She looked straight into his eyes, they were filled with guilt and she started to cry again.

She opened her eyes, looking around disoriented. She saw Mary Margaret sitting beside the bed she was laying in. As she looked around the room she realized she was in the hospital. As she tried to sit up a shock of pain went through her whole body. She let out a cry of pain that made Mary Margaret wake up. "Emma! You're awake! Wait,let me help you get up." Mary quickly got up out of her chair and helped Emma get up. "Mary, why exactly am I in the hospital?" She asked. "Ems, I don't know how to say this but you called me last night and begged me to help you. You couldn't hear me but I heard you yelling at Neal that he needed to stop. So I called the police and came as quickly as I could." As Mary Margaret told her what happened, memories of last night came back. "Oh Neal, what have you done?" She thought. "What about Neal? Where is he? Why isn't he here?" She asked Mary Margaret. "Neal is at the police station." She started to panic. Neal would lose himself in prison. He was drunk, he didn't know what he was doing. "Mary, I need to talk to him. He knows that what he did was wrong but if I talk to him, things will get better.

"Emma, you can't be serious about this!"Mary Margaret said in disbelief. "He has beaten you so badly. If you hadn't called me or if I hadn't picked up the phone, we wouldn't even be talking right now."Mary Margaret looked outside the window while talking to her friend. "I would be crying instead because you would have been dead!. He belongs in jail Emma, there is no excuse for him to not be in there. He has crossed a line and he needs to pay for that."She looked at Emma in shock, how could her friend keep defending him like that?

"All he needs is help Mary! He was drunk, he didn't know what he was doing!" "That's exactly the problem Ems, him being drunk. Again! He knew what he was doing and if you keep going on with this there will be a day he will actually kill you!" Emma didn't want to look at her friend, she knew she was right and if she looked into Mary's eyes, she would start to cry. "I don't want to lose you Emma. You are my best friend. Get some rest and think about what I said. All of this has got to stop, you might not think so, but there's a high chance this will happen a second time." Mary Margaret said as she took her coat and purse and walked out the room.

She thought about what her friend said. Somewhere deep inside her she knew Mary Margaret was right. But she also knew Neal would not kill her. This was all just a big mistake, she would talk to Neal about what happened. She would tell him he needed to stop drinking and they could be happy again. Suddenly she felt sleepy and she closed her eyes and fall asleep immediately.

She woke up from the sound of a man's voice calling her name. "Emma,love,wake up. You are having a bad dream." She opened her eyes and looked around the room to find the man the voice belongs to. Beside her bed she finds Killian in a chair. "What are you doing here? Didn't I tell you to leave me alone?" She couldn't help sounding sarcastic. "Cut the sass, Swan. I only wanted to check if you were doing alright. "He moved closer to the bed and for a second she thought he would grab her hand. But he didn't, he looked down with a shy glance on his face. "Do you think I'm doing alright? My own boyfriend went nuts because he remembered our dinner at Gepetto's and decided to beat me up for that. And on top of that my best friend talks about him like he's an criminal who needs to be locked up in jail. Been there,done that and prison is not a fun place to be." She looked at him with anger. She was angry at him. If she hadn't met him and went out for pizza she wouldn't be here at all. She would be at home,with Neal. Trying to fix their relationship. "Emma please,don't be mad at me. I'm trying to be a friend. You know what I think of this but it's not my call to tell you what to do. But if you ask for my honest opinion,I totally agree with Mary Margaret. Love,this relationship isn't healthy." Now she was getting really angry. "Who are you to tell me it isn't healthy? Mind your own damn business. And stop calling me "love"!" As she yelled at him she could feel the pain coming back in her body. "And you agree with Mary Margaret? So she's your best friend now? Just go away Killian, I don't need you. I don't need another friend, I have plenty friends that really know me. Goodbye!" She turned her head to the other side, not wanting to look at him. She bit her lip and fought back the tears that are welling up. She was hoping he would go away so she could call the nurse for an aspirin. She could hear him sigh as he stood up. "Be mad all you want Swan. I will be there for you incase you need anything. Even if it is in the middle of the night. But please, just think about it. Not for me or Mary Margaret, but for yourself." He took his jacket and walked out the door. In the doorway he looked at her, she was looking out the window with a single year rolling down her face. He couldn't stand seeing her like this but he would give her the space she requested.

After the nurse gave her an aspirin she looked out the window again. Her room was on the fourth floor so she could see the street pretty clear. It was 12:30PM, so people were on their way to get lunch. As she watched them walking the sidewalk she thought about what Killian said. Was she really not seeing what they were seeing? Was she really that blind? She knew he was right, she just didn't want to admit it. If only she could talk to Neal about what happened. She misses him, she had to make sure he was alright.

She was so wrapped up in her thoughts that she didn't hear the door opening. When the nurse called her name, she looked up and saw two police officers walking in. "Afternoon Miss Swan, we would like to ask you some questions if that's okay?" The female officer asked. "Yeah sure, come on in." She sat up a little more so she could talk to the officers better. "Miss Swan, can you tell us what happened?" "Sure. I was sleeping and suddenly Neal woke me up. He had a few drinks with his friend August and he wanted me to make him something to eat. Somehow he got mad and then I got mad and before I knew it he hit me in the face. But it's okay, I'm sure he's sorry for what he did. He loves me like I love him." The police officers looked at each other. "Miss Swan, I need to ask you if you want to press any charges against Mr. Cassidy." The male officer looked at her with a serious expression. She started laughing. "Press charges? Of course not! This was the first and definitely last time we will experience something like this." "Are you sure Miss? This is a subject we are very serious about. There are a lot of woman that say the same thing as you. That it's the first and last time. But our experience is that there's always a second time and before they know it they are too afraid to leave their partner. Domestic violence is a crime Miss. I'll ask you again, do you want to press charges?" She thought about the question for a few seconds but she had made her mind up already. "No sir, I do not want to press any charges. Can you let Neal out of prison now? I would like to talk to him." "We have a few things to do before he can come home. Thank you for your time Miss Swan, all the best to you. Take care." As they walked out the door she felt sleepy again. When they closed the door she laid back and fell asleep again.

The next day she was released from the hospital and Mary Margaret and David drove her home. The ride home was very quiet, it felt awkward after their talk in the hospital. Still she felt happiness towards her friends, happy that she had them to watch her back and helped her out. When they got home David opened the door and helped her out the car. She still felt a bit of pain in her body sometimes.

When she came in her apartment she saw that Mary Margaret cleaned her house. "Thank you Mary." Emma said to her friend as she sat down on the couch. "No problem Emma." Mary Margaret understood what she was talking about. David laid her legs on the couch so she would be more comfortable while Mary laid a blanket over her. Suddenly they all looked at the bedroom door. Neal was standing in the doorway. She smiled when she saw him,she really missed him. Her smile dropped down when she saw his face. He clearly didn't sleep much and his eyes were filled with regret and guilt."Emma...I..." Neal didn't know what to do or to say. "Ems, do you want us to stay with you?" Mary Margaret asked while looking at Neal. "No guys, it's okay." She smiled at her friends before they left. David looked at Neal with nothing but pure anger in his eyes. "You touch her again make sure you start running. Because I will hunt you down and I'll kill you myself." David said to him and walked out the door, followed by Mary Margaret.

"Sorry for that." Emma said to Neal. "No Emma, don't apologize, the man is right. What I did was so wrong." Neal came walking towards her and sat down on the chair opposite the couch Emma was laying on. He started crying, she never saw him cry. He was one of the strongest people she knew. "Emma, I'm so sorry for what I did to you. I don't know what has gotten into me." He took his head in his own hands and cried even louder. "Neal it's okay, it was all a big mistake. It was my own fault, I shouldn't have gone to dinner with Killian." "No Emma it's my fault, not yours. I don't blame you for going out with that guy, or any guy. I haven't been myself these last few months and you don't deserve that." He stood up,knelt down next to Emma and took her hand in his. "I'm so sorry Em, I promise I won't do it again. I love you baby, can you forgive me?" He looked at her, begging for her forgiveness. Of course she would forgive him. Right?

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 **Hmm,will Emma forgive him? What do you guys think will happen next? Leave a review at the bottom, curious what you guys think! Hope you all enjoyed it!**


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N: Like always I'm touched by the lovely reviews, follows & favorites. All of you encourage me to keep writing. By the time I am writing this I started writing chapter 12. And already made plans for chapter 13. So by the looks of it, this story won't end any time soon(YAY!)**

 **I think we all agree that it is time for Emma to take care of business and needs to kick Neal's ass... And then there is also this devilishly handsome man that is kind of messing with Emma's head... Who know's what is gonna happen in this and the upcoming chapters.. All i can say is to be patient!**

 **Like usuall, I want to thank my friend R for helping me with my grammar mistakes. If there is still any mistake left then it's completely my own fault!**

 **I do not own any of the characters or the story**

 **Enjoy!**

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Chapter 7

Six days had gone by since she was released from the hospital. She felt a lot better since the second day she was home. Things between her and Neal had gotten better too. She made the decision to forgive him, of course she would. She wouldn't give up on him so easily. They have come too far to be broken by this. After that night they didn't talk about it anymore. Neal promised he would drink less and so far he managed to do so. He took a few beers in the evening,only one or two. He even went job searching again,tomorrow he would have his first interview. She was really happy for him and she knew she had made the right choice by forgiving him.

Regina told her to stay home for two weeks but she was ready to start working again. So she called her boss and asked if she carefully could come back to work. After a while Regina gave in and they agreed on Emma working on Sunday. So there she was, putting on her work clothes. She really missed the atmosphere of the bar. As she walked behind the bar she looked over the crowd. It was ten o'clock and everybody was having a great time. She turned her head over to Ruby, who had a big smile on her face. Ruby gave her a wink and Emma smiled back at her, this was going to be a great night.

After half an hour everyone had their drinks and Emma started making her rounds through the place to pick up empty glasses. She came to a table where five men where laughing about something that supposedly was hilarious. She smiled when she took their glasses and one of the men noticed her. "Hello beautiful", the man said to her. She could tell he was really drunk already and she starts laughing. They looked like they belonged behind a desk at some fancy office. " _Guess who is going to work with a major hang over tomorrow"_ she thought to herself. "Hello guys,having a good time?" She said to the guys. "We didn't until you came around. What a lovely thing you are." He placed his right hand on her ass and she kindly took it away. But the guy clearly didn't understand the meanings of the word "no" as he placed his hand back again. "Sir,could you please remove your hand off my ass?" She asked him nicely. "I could do that but I don't want that. I think my hand is perfectly fine as where it is now." The guy said. instead of moving his hand away he pulled her closer. "Let go of me!" Emma yelled at the guy while trying to get out of his tight grip. "No baby, you stay right here. I know you like it." The guy replied. "Dude,I think I heard that the lady kindly said "no". Killian was standing next to them,looking at the guy with great confidence. "Bug off dude,this one is mine." His grip around Emma tightened even more while he was challenging Killian. "I'm gonna be nice one more time" Killian said. "Or do you want to do this the hard way immediately?" Killian was not impressed with the guy what so ever. Emma saw the serious look on his face and she felt like she could burst into tears any second.

She treated him like crap and he was still there to protect her. She didn't deserve this, she was an ice cold bitch to Killian.

"I choose the hard way. Let's see what you got dude. I'll take you down easily!" The man let go of Emma, who immediately stepped back, and he swung his arms in Killian's face. He couldn't even stand straight, he kept falling to the left. "Alright, let's take it outside" Killian walked up to the guy who turned around and started walking outside. "Stay here,love. You are safe here." He gave her a wink and walked out himself. No way Emma would stay inside the bar. She had to make sure Killian would not hurt that man too badly.

The men were standing outside,dancing around each other. Both not wanting to punch the other first. Or maybe Killian didn't really want to punch the guy. "Come on dude, show me what kind of man you are!" The drunk dude was swinging around,ready to fall down. But surprisingly he was able to stand on his feet. "What kind of man I am? I'm the kind of man that respects a lady and knows what the meaning of "no" is. Let's talk about the kind of man you are, mate. You always treat ladies like this? Like an object?" She could hear the change in Killian's voice, he was getting annoyed with the guy. "As a matter of fact,yes I do. They have to know who the boss is. And if they are not willing to understand it I'll even do it the hard way." They guy laughed. He shouldn't have done that. Killian's hand became a fist, he pulled his arm backwards and punched the guy straight on his nose. Now the weight of his body was to heavy for his feet to carry around anymore and he fell on the ground backwards. "Get up your feet, take your friends and leave this place. If I ever see you again it will be far worse than you just experienced."

Killian turned around and saw Emma. "I'm sorry Emma. I probably shouldn't have done that but I didn't like what that guy was doing. I shouldn't have come here, you requested space." He looked at the ground, turned around and started walking away.

"Killian! Wait,please!" Emma yelled and started running towards him. She reached him and she grabbed his hand. "Killian,please" she said again and he turned around. Before she knew what she was doing she placed her lips on his. At first he didn't know how to respond but then he let go of her hand so he could place both arms around her to pull her closer to him. The kiss became more demanding, she needed him in some sort of way. He opened her lips with his tongue and she welcomed it warmly into her own mouth. She wrapped her left arm around him and placed her right hand on the back of his head. She started to run her hands through his hair and let out a little groan as he picked her up and pushed her against the wall.

It was impossible for their bodies to be closer to each other but it still felt as if he was miles away from her. She felt the palm of his hand when he placed it underneath her shirt to rub her back. She has no idea where the thought of wanting him came from but right now, he was all she ever wanted. "Oh Emma" he said, his voice hoarse while taking his lips off of hers to catch a quick breath. Soon their lips found each other again and she placed both her hands on his ass. She gave it a little squeeze, it was tight and well formed. Her body was in flames, the feeling he gave her right now was so ridiculously good. She definitely wanted more of him. Suddenly he let go of her, taking his arms away and taking a step back. "I'm sorry Emma, I shouldn't have done this." Killian said. "For fuck sake, stop apologizing for something you are not sorry about! I'm the one that should say sorry for once. I should not give you mixed signals like this." She was so confused in her head about what she felt,yet it made complete sense to her. But she wasn't ready to tell it to Killian just yet. She walked away, leaving Killian behind all confused and heated. But she had to walk away before she would bring more damage to herself and Neal. Before walking around the corner, she turned around to give Killian one last look and headed back into the bar.

Finally she could go home, to bed. She was exhausted. Not just from working but also from all the thoughts that went through her head. She enjoyed the kiss with Killian, goodness she enjoyed it a lot! But it was only because he was giving the attention Neal hasn't given to her in a long time. When she got home she noticed that Neal had gone to bed already. Happily she put on her pj's and climbed into the bed. She pressed her body against Neal's,as gently as she could without waking him up. She failed as she felt Neal moving. "Ems, you're home" he whispered as he laid his arm over her body. "Yes Neal, I am here. Go back to sleep,okay." She felt his lips gently placing a little kiss on her shoulder as they both fell into a deep sleep.

Only a few hours later Neal woke her up by kissing her on the cheek. "Emma, I have to go to my interview. Wish me luck." She smiled as she heard the excitement in his voice. "Good luck, you will rock at this interview." "When I get home I'll make you some breakfast Ems. Get some more sleep. I love you." Before she could reply, she felt into a deep sleep again.

 _"Neal! Please stop! I am begging you!" Her voice cracked as she raised her hand to her face, to the spot where Neal just hit her. "You dirty whore! I saw you with that Killian again! Why the fuck would you do this to me? Is he better than me? Can he give you more than I already give you? You are mine,bitch!" Neal raised his hand again, ready to hit her face. But instead of punching her, he picked her up and threw her into the corner at the other side of the room. "Neal! Fucking stop! I didn't do anything! I ran into him and told him,again, to leave me alone!" She started crying. Her whole body hurts, she couldn't take much more of his beatings. She crawled to the door but half way there Neal picked her up again. He took her by her hair and pulled her face to his, only a few inches of space left. "I will stop when I think I need to stop. But for now, you clearly don't understand a word of what I'm saying." He started punching her again and with every punch he gave her, he yelled that she was his and his only. She knew this would be it, there was no way out. This was the end, the moment she was so afraid of. This would be her death._

She woke up with a shock, that dream was intense. She was covered in sweat,her pj's were soaking wet. She listened to the silence in the house, Neal wasn't back yet. That could only mean that the interview was going great. She couldn't be more happy,things will get better again. She climbed out of bed and walked into the bathroom. Right now, all she needed was a shower. She undressed and stepped underneath the warm water. As she was washing her hair she thought back to the nightmare she just had. She did not know what to think of it, it would never happen. What did happened was that passionate kiss she shared with Killian. If he didn't stopped it, things would have gone way farther then they had done now. In a way she wanted him, he gave her a feeling she hadn't experienced in a long time. She loved Neal but he never made her feel the way Killian did. She started to believe everything Mary Margaret and Killian said to her in the hospital. What if Neal was indeed not the right guy for her? She had to talk to Killian, she needed to find out what she really felt. She turned off the shower, dried her body and puts on some clothes. She walked into the bedroom and reached for her phone.

 _I really need to talk to you. Meet me at the park in 30 minutes? Emma_

It didn't take him long to respond. He texted her back saying he needed to talk to her too and asked if she wanted him to bring along some coffee. After she texted him back with the coffee she wanted him to bring, she did her hair and left a note for Neal incase he came home soon. She grabbed her keys,walked out of the house and got in her car to drive to the park. " _What should I even tell him?"_ She asked herself while starting the car.

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 **What do you guys think Emma is gonna tell Killian? Leave your thoughts/comments and or questions at the bottom of this page!**


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N: I know I'm kinda late with this chapter, sorry! Next week I have to go back to work(ugh) and I will only post on Monday. I'm hoping that I can start publishing my second fanfiction soon but I'm still working on that!**

 **As usuall I want to thank my friend R. for doing the grammar checks! If there is still any mistake left in this chapter it's my fault.**

 **I don't own any of the characters and the show.**

 **Enjoy & don't forget to leave a review!**

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Chapter 8

She saw him waiting for her on a bench near the pond. He threw some bread into the water and the ducks started eating it loudly quacking.

She didn't dare to look him in the eyes so she just sat down next to him, keeping her eyes on the ducks that were swimming away as there was no more bread left.

Neither of them knew what to do or say so they just sat there. Killian placed her cup of coffee next to her without looking at her. After a while Killian sighed and moved around a bit.

"Killian, I…"She started but quickly swallowed back the words. She was to afraid to tell him the wrong things. She took a deep breath, trying to find out what to say exactly. She thought she had it all figured out on the way here, but now, sitting next to him, she even didn't know why she texted him in the first place.

"You move me, Emma." He said eventually as he moved his feet around in the grass. She could tell he was nervous too. "I don't know why I can't stay away from you, I just know that I want to be around you as much as I can" He finally looked at her but Emma was still not able to look at him just yet. Especially after hearing this. "I didn't mean to fall in love with you, or anyone else. It just happened. I came to this town for work. It was going to be for a few weeks and then I would have been gone again. But since I saw you at Granny's after your work shift, I couldn't get you off my mind."

Emma finally found the courage to look up at him. She could not help but stare into his blue, bright eyes. . "Killian, I don't know what to say to that. Goodness, I don't even know how to feel or what I want. Last night, the kiss we shared, it was amazing." A small smile appears on Killian's face and she was happy that he didn't joke about it. "I would be lying if I said I didn't enjoy it. But on the other hand, I have Neal now and things have gotten so much better between us. I have to figure out what I want and for that I think I need some space. My mind is so confused right now." Emma stared at the water again. "Do I really need space? What am I doing?" She thought to herself.

"I get that your confused right now, I would be to if I were you. But don't listen to your head, listen to your heart, Emma. I know you are with Neal and I respect that. I'm not the kind of guy that comes between a lady and her man. But I do care about a woman if someone is not treating her well." Killian placed her hand between his and slowly started rubbing the palm of her hand with his thumb. "All I want right now is to get to know you, the real you. Not the you that you want everyone else to see. If you request some space, I'll give you space. But think about this Emma…" He moved closer to her and gently placed his lips on hers. It was a small kiss but Emma's body was in flames again. "When I win your heart,and I will win it, it will not be because of any trickery. It will be, because you want me." He said as he got to his feet and walked away.

On her drive back home she had made up her mind. She knew exactly what to do. Not only did she needed space from Killian, she needed space from Neal as well. She has to figure some stuff out and for that, she needed to be on her own for a while. She parked her car and got ready for her talk with Neal.

"Neal? Are you home yet?" She yelled as she closed the front door. "Yes, Ems! I'm in the kitchen!" She heard him going through the fridge. Please, don't let him be looking for beer." She thought to herself before opening the door to the living room. She walked into the kitchen finding Neal drinking milk straight out of the carton. She sighed relieved. If he was drinking this conversation would not have gone any easier.

"Neal, can I talk to you?" "Of course." He said as he saw the confused look in her eyes. She took his hand and gently dragged him to the couch. They both sat down and Emma was still looking for the right words. "What's wrong Emma? It's clear to see that you want to get something off your chest." Neal squeezed her hand, letting her know that it was alright.

"Neal, you know I care about you right?" She asked him as she played around with her hands, not knowing where to put them. Neal laid a finger under her chin, forcing her to look up at him. "Of course I know that. And you know that I love you too." Her stomach turned around and she started to feel nauseous as he said those three words.

"I love you". Emma hates those words. She never said it to anyone, not even to Neal. Her parents gave her up for adoption, the only thing she knew about her biological parents is that they were too young to have kids. There hasn't been much love in Emma's life. Until Neal came along there was nobody who ever said these words to her.

"I need space." She quickly said the words that were hanging on her lips for a while. She looked at him, at first he looked confused and then devastation hits him right in his face. "What are you talking about Emma? Why are you saying this? Things between us are better now." Neal got to his feet quickly and started to wander around. "I know things are better now, I just need some time to think things through." "Think things through?" Suddenly Neal stands still. Emma got to her feet and walked towards him. When she stands in front of him she takes his hands in hers and squeezes them lightly. "I'm sorry Neal, I don't know what else to say. It's just that it has been so much lately, I need some time to breath." She thought Neal would understand it, that he needed to process stuff too. But instead he let's go of her hands, pushing them besides her body. "Bullshit Emma! If you want to break up just say so. Or do you want me out of the way so you can let Killian in?" He looked at her, he was furious. "Stay strong,Emma." She thought to herself as she took a step back. "I'm not letting anyone in, this time I'm choosing for myself! I don't want to spend the days looking over my shoulder to see if you want to beat me up again! You have hurt me Neal, not only physically but also emotionally. I need some space, please respect that." A single tear falls down her face.

"Respect that? Like you have any respect for me! But fine, if you want me to go, I'll go!" Neal seems to calm down a bit and walks into their bedroom. Above the closet lays a suitcase which Neal threw on the bed. Aggressively he opens the closet and starts to grab his clothes and smashes them into the suitcase. When he was done he walked back into the living room where Emma sits on the chouch, crying. "Stop crying,Emma. You are the one who needs space." Without even giving her a kiss or what so ever, he walked out of their house.

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 **YAY for Emma finally throwing Neal's ass out of the house, you go girl!**

 **I'm sorry for the shortness of this chapter, this will the last short chapter!**


	9. Chapter 9

**Thank you all for the lovely reviews, twitter comments & faves and follows. It really means a lot to me, so please keep reviewing!**

 **As usual I want to thank my friend R. for the grammar checks! Any mistakes left it's my fault!**

 **I don't own any of the character or the show.**

 **Enjoy & don't forget to leave a review at the bottom of this page!**

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Chapter 9

When it was time to get out of bed, all Emma could feel was numbness. It felt like she slept 30 minutes which was exactly the time she had slept that night. She had been lying awake, thinking about herself, Neal and even Killian has been wandering around in her mind.

Since she had plenty of time before she had to be at work, she decides to drive to Mary Margaret's place. On Friday nights her and David usually sleep at Mary's place. Wishing her friend would be at home, she drove off.

"Emma, hi! We were just about to have some lunch at Granny's. Do you want to join us?" David asked when he opened the door for her. Her stomach made some noise to let her know it wants to be fed so she nodded. "Great, come on in. I think Mary is about ready." David stepped aside to let her in and when Emma steps into the living room she finds her friend getting ready to go. "Hey Mary." Emma says before giving her friend a tight hug. "Woah Emma, what's that for? Is everything alright?" Mary looked at David as if he knows the answer but he shrugged. "I told Neal yesterday that I need some space. He took his stuff and left." When Emma looks from Mary Margaret to David she sees the relief in both of their eyes. "You know what Emma, I'll buy you lunch and we'll talk about it, okay?" "You don't have to buy me lunch guys, I can take care of myself." David chuckles and Emma raises her eyebrow. "Don't make fun of me Nolan." She said as she pointed to him with her finger. "I wouldn't dare,Swan. I don't want you to kick my ass." All three of them laughed and left the house.

It felt good, being around her friends and to laugh again. It doesn't mean that she isn't sad about all that happened lately, it felt as if she finally could breath again. She wasn't sure if she remembered the last time she felt like this. Like last night she is starting to question the love between her and Neal and if it ever was real. Not just in the bad times but in the good times as well. Sitting in the backseat, staring out the window, her mind starts to think about Killian.

He definitely made her feel fire in her body, something Neal never made her feel. When she was around him it felt as if...she was complete. As if he was the last piece of the puzzle. Emma grinned and shakes her head. "What's so funny Emma? Care to share that inside joke of yours?" Mary Margaret turned around and looked at her friend. On her face was a big smile that Emma hasn't seen in awhile on her friend. "You look great Emma." Emma busted into laughter. "Are you kidding me? I feel like a mess so I suppose I look like crap as well." Emma made eye contact with David through the rearview mirror, he smiled at her to encourage her to receive Mary's compliment. "But thank you for thinking otherwise." She said and Mary gave her a wink.

David parked the car, opened the door for Emma to get out and walked around to open the door for Mary Margaret. As he holds the door to Granny's Emma walked inside and heard Mary Margaret say "what a Prince Charming you are".

There were a few people at Granny's which surprised Emma, usually around this time the place was filled with people. Granny didn't seem to mind less costumers as she was reading the newspaper at the bar. Mary Margaret and David sat down at a table by the window and Emma walked towards Granny to say hello. "Emma! It's good to see you again, it's been awhile since you've had breakfast here." Granny said while closing the newspaper. She got up and gave Emma a hug. "What can I do for you Emma?" "I'm here with some friends for lunch. We just got in so no need to rush out orders. But we would like two hot cocoa's and one coffee please." Granny walked around the counter and started making their drinks already. "No problem. Just sit down, relax and I will bring your drinks shortly. It's really good to see you again, you look great." Emma smiled to the lady she's known for years and walked back to her friends.

"I got us some drinks, they should be here any second." Emma said while sitting down. "Thank you Emma. Shall we see what we want for lunch and then talk about what happened?" Mary Margaret said to her and she sighed. She really didn't want to talk about it but she knows her friends doesn't give up easy. After a short time Granny brought them their drinks and they ordered some food.

When they were eating, David asked her what happened last night. "I think I finally came to senses with this relationship. I felt like I needed space so I told him that when I got home." She took a bite of her club sandwich so she wouldn't reveal her "secret" about meeting Killian yesterday. She didn't want to tell them that he kind of helped her with making the decision to tell Neal how she feels.

"And how did he reacted to that?" Mary Margaret asked. "Better then I expected to be honest. Not that he took off without saying anything but he didn't punch me in the face either." She meant it as a joke but her friends weren't laughing at all. "And where is he now?" David asked before finishing his own sandwich. "I have no idea where he is. He packed a suitcase and took off. I hope he didn't but I have the feeling he's at August's his drinking buddy's house. If that's the case then I'm done with him." David nodded with agreement. "And what about his parents?"

David hasn't known Neal that long and if had known him longer, he didn't want to know everything about him. David and Mary Margaret started dating six months after Emma and Neal and from the moment he met Neal he wasn't very fond of him. He never told that directly to Emma but she had seen the looks in his eyes when they hung out with them. When it comes to Emma David liked her from the start. She had the feeling David sees her as a sort of sister he never had. He had a brother, James, who disappeared when he was 12. They never found him again. Just when Emma wanted to tell them about Neal's parents, the door opened and Killian came in.

He saw her right away and when she met his eyes she saw the sparkle lighten up in his eyes. She doesn't know why but her cheeks turned red and she looked away. She had seen the look of David and Mary Margaret from the corner of her eye, they know something's up. When she looked at Killian again she saw him standing at the bar, ordering lunch. He stands there with his legs crossed in a tight jeans that really showed his well formed behind. When she thinks back to the night they shared a kiss and her placing her hands on that lovely ass, her cheeks turned even more red. She looked away quickly when Killian turned his head around and winked at her.

"What's going on between you and Killian?" Mary Margaret finally asked. "Nothing." Emma quickly said, way too quickly because her friends didn't believe her at all. "You can tell me otherwise but there is definitely something going on between the two of you. There's a look in your eyes that I have never seen but I know what that look represents, it's called lust." Emma was shocked that Mary Margaret figured it all out so soon. Or maybe she wasn't hiding her feelings very well. "To be honest, I have no idea what is going on. I told him to give me space as well. I really don't know what to feel about him." Emma tells them about their meeting yesterday and she also told them about their passionate, wanting kiss the other night.

Apparently Killian ordered his lunch as to go, since he came walking by with a brown bag. Before opening the door to walk outside her turned his head to her and gave her a little smile. She smiled back at him and suddenly she wanted to go after him. She said she would be back to her friends, got up and quickly walked to the door. "Killian! Wait!" She said to make him stop. Instantly he stopped walking and turned around.

"Anything wrong, love?" He asked. "I...I said to Neal that I need space and time. He left yesterday evening." She said, not knowing why she even told him that. What she did know was that somehow she wanted to be in his arms, wanted to feel safe. And she knows he would keep her safe so before even thinking it through she throws herself into his arms, tightly wrapping her hands around his waist. "Woah Emma, what are you doing?" He said as he was blown away with her throwing herself at him. "I don't know what I'm doing anymore Killian." She sobbed against his chest. "It's okay Emma, let it all out." He wrapped his arms around her and gave her a little kiss on the crown of her head. They stood there for a minute or two when suddenly Emma let go of him.

"I don't know what to do. I told Neal to go but I'm afraid to actually leave him. I'm afraid Killian." She said with actual fear in her eyes and all Killian did was place his arms around her again. "It's okay Emma, I will protect you."

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 **So proud of Emma and that she told Neal to go,she should have done that way sooner! Of course Killian will protect her, he will Always protect her. Because he's always a gentleman 3**


	10. Chapter 10

**A/N: Chapter 10 already! Currently writing chapter 15 and I'm starting to doubt if I should end it after chapter 16 or 17. But not sure about that just jet. If you want me to stop writing way sooner than that or maybe longer, leave a review at the bottom of this chapter. Still working on my second fanfiction as well but not sure when that is gonna be posted. I'll keep you guys up to date of course!**

 **As usuall I want to thank my friend R. for checking grammar and such. If there is still any mistakes left, blame it on me!**

 **I do not own any of the character or the show. Enjoy!**

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Chapter 10

Emma and Killian agreed with Emma needing a few days to think her feelings through and then they would meet each other in the park on Tuesday.

She didn't have much time to think at work. Her shift started two hours ago and there wasn't a moment that she could rest for five minutes. The place was filled with party people, way more than usuall on a Saturday. But she didn't mind at all, it was nice to not think about her problems for once. Everyone was smiling and dancing and the line at the bar was gigantic. One of Emma's favorite songs came on and she started dancing herself. When Ruby saw her she smiled and pulled Emma with her on top of the bar. "Ruby what the hell are you doing?" "Don't worry Emma, we're just gonna have some fun!"

On top of the bar Ruby started to dance. Emma started laughing and joined her. While the girls were doing their thing, people started to cheer and clapp. When Emma looked at Regina she saw an satisfied smile on her face. She didn't care about anything or anyone anymore, she just got up to the music and danced like there was nobody in the room. She looked around, a whole lot of people were dancing as well. A drunk man touched her leg and wanted to climb on top of the bar as well. She looked at him and waved her finger at him to tell him that he couldn't do that but the man clearly didn't want to listen because he was already standing next to her. He placed his hands on her hips, came closer to her and started dancing. She yelled at him to let her go but that only encouraged him to hold on tighter.

Suddenly the man got smacked down on the bar and as Emma looked at the person responsible for that, she looked into Neal's eyes. He was mad and he was drunk. Not normal drunk but really drunk. "If you ever touch my girlfriend again, I will fuck you up!" Neal said while throwing the man to the ground. Emma quickly got off the bar to make Neal stop. "Neal, stop it! This is ridiculous, you are making a way too big of a deal!" Neal wanted to punch the man so she placed her hand around his wrist to prevent him from doing so. He shakes her hand off and looked at her, his eyes filled with rage.

"What do you think you are doing?"Neal said. "What I'm doing? I am working, like you should do too. But apparently you are drunk rather than earning your own god damn money! What do you think you are doing?" She was starting to get pissed at Neal. Where did he get the balls to come to her work and act like this? "I'm making sure my girlfriend behaves while I'm not at home. But my girlfriend decides to forgot me quickly as she is already dancing on the bar with some other dude! What happened with that Killian guy? One time with him was enough already?"

She could not believe he had just said that. Anger started to boil from the tips of her toes and it wouldn't take long to reach her boiling point. "For fuck sake Neal, do you even hear yourself talking? What you are saying is just complete nonsense! And if you must know, I haven't had Killian once. I am so done with you Neal, I should have left you sooner then yesterday. Now get the hell out and don't bother to come back here or the house. We are over!" She turned around and started walking to the bar when Neal grabbed her wrist and closed his fingers around it very tightly, so thight that she knew she would have bruises there the next morning. "You are not going anywhere, bitch." Neal said to her and when she looked at him she saw that he was ready to punch her again. Suddenly fear is taking over her body, scared that he will beat her up to death. Out of the blue the bouncer comes up behind Neal and grabs his other, free hand. Neal didn't expect anyone to stop him so he was utterly surprised someone actually did that and he immidiately lets go of Emma's wrist. "If you touch her with even one finger I'll make you experience what it is to be fucked up."The bouncer said and took Neal to the exit of the bar.

For a minute Emma just stood there in shock. She could feel the staring eyes of the costumers that saw everything. From behind Ruby came towards her, pulling her friend back to the club to let her calm down. "Oh my gosh Emma, what was all that? What is his problem?" Ruby said while filling up a glass with water. But Emma couldn't say a thing. As the fear and anger starts to drop, disbelief came up. "Emma, are you alright?" Regina stands in the doorway, not sure if she should come in or not. "What?Oh sorry, yes I'm alright. I just need a bit of water and then I'm good to go back to work again." She took a sip of her water, placed it down and got up from the chair. Her legs did not seem to be able to carry her as she almost fell down. Ruby grabbed her before she could hit the ground and placed her back on the chair again.

"You are not fine, Emma. You need to go home. Well not home since that son of a bitch might wait for you there." Emma realized that Regina was getting angry. She never saw her as angry as this. Regina was more the kind of woman that was pissed about almost everything, she hardly gets angry. "I'm fine Regina, just give me a few minutes and I'm good to go again." "Ruby, could you please go back to the bar? Three of us in here is a bit too much since it's crowded in there. I think Belle could use some help." Regina did not take her eyes of off Emma, as she gave instructions to Ruby. Ruby nodded to Regina, gave Emma a little squeeze on her shoulder and walks out the door. Regina shuts the door, grabs a chair and placed it across from Emma's. "Emma, I'm gonna say this once so listen closely. You had a very, very rough time lately and now this happened. I told you I didn't want any boyfriend in the bar when you are working. Now Neal is something else, he seems out of control when it comes to making the right decisions. I care for you, you know that, and right now I want you to call someone who can pick you up, take you to a place Neal does not know of, and get a week off work. Paid of course." As Emma saw the look in Regina's eyes she knows she isn't gonna win an argument with Regina. So she reached out for her bag, took her phone and called the first person she could think of. "Killian, can you pick me up at the bar please?Something happened, I'll explain later but please come pick me up."

Only five minutes later Killian came running in the room. "Emma, are you alright? What happened?" He walked towards her, sat on his knees and tugged a strand of hair behind her ear. "Neal was here. He saw me dancing with some guy on the bar and got mad. I told him we are over and he wanted to punch me again. If Grumpy, our bouncer, didn't get him out in time who knows what would have happened." "You don't have to think about that anymore,love. Let's go home." Killian said as he helped her up, grabbed her bag and walked her out of the club to his car.

"Wait,my car." Emma said before getting into Killian's car. "Just leave it here, Emma. I'll get it tomorrow. Right now you need to get some rest." He gave her a slight push against her shoulder so she would forget about the car and got in his. He helped her with putting on her seatbelt, closed the door and walked around to get into the car himself. He turned on the radio because he felt that Emma didn't want to talk. "Thank you Killian." "No problem, Swan." They smiled at each other and Killian drives off, into the night.

When Emma walks into Killian's apartment,she takes a good look around. His interior was tight, a real man's house. The basic furniture was there along with a few pictures on the wall but the extra things, the kind of things a woman places in her house, wasn't anywhere to be found. Right on her left was a picture of the skyline of New York. "I want to go there someday, to New York." She said to Killian without taking her eyes off the picture. "It's a lovely place, I've been there a few times." Killian answered as he moved closer to Emma. She could feel the heat of his breath in her neck.

"How about we get comfortable and get something to drink, Swan?" Killian takes her hand and escorts her to the couch. She sits down and follows his movements as he walks to the kitchen. "What would you like to drink?" "I could use a glass of wine." Killian raised his eyebrow, she loves it when he does that, but didn't say anything. He takes two wine glasses and fills them with white wine.

"Relax Emma, you are safe now." Killian said as Emma finished her glass in one gulp. "I know, it's just so much. I never thought Neal would be capable of doing stuff like he did. I should have opened my eyes earlier, should have listened to Mary Margaret and to you. I probably shouldn't have started dating him." "You should not be saying that,Swan. You could not have seen this coming when you met him. As much as an ass he is now, I'm sure he wasn't like this before it all happened." Killian stood up to fill her glass again when she held it out to him.

Killian was right, Neal wasn't like this in the beginning. But she should have left him straight after it happened. How could she be so stupid to forgive him and think it would never happen again? Luckily it's all over now and she started to loosen up after a few glasses. They talked about pretty much everything, leaving the subject of Neal out of their conversation.

When Killian sat down on the couch again after a short bathroom break, she felt the alcohol take over her body. It felt so good, being so close to Killian. Fire started to burn in her body as she looked at his face. His hair was a mess, like the wind went through it with the speed of light. She wanted to run her fingers through his hair so badly.

Before he could say anything she climbed on top of his lap, placing each leg on either side of his body. "Swan, what are you doing?" Killian asked surprised. She smiled at him and then placed her lips gently on his. She gave him short, soft kisses until he placed one hand on the back of her head and the other on the small of her back. She groaned as he opened her lips with his tongue and her tongue meets his halfway.

She moved her hand to his hair, gently running her fingers through it. It feels as good as she imagined it. She placed her other hand on his chest, playing with the buttons of his shirt. Killian's hand climbed under her shirt, startled by his touch she jumped up a bit. She lets go of his lips so that she could push him backwards. She bites her lip as she started to unbutton his shirt. "Emma, I don't think this is a good idea." Killian said as he placed his hand on hers to make her stop. "Oh come on Killian, we both know I'm your type." Emma pulled her hand back underneath his and continues to open his shirt. "As much as I want to make love to you I don't want it like this. Clearly you're drunk and a lot has happened to you. So please Emma, let's just get you to bed." He sits up straight and holds Emma so that she doesn't falls back. "You're a real buzz killer, Jones!" She says as she gets up. Thanks to the alcohol her legs are not stable anymore and she almost falls down. Killian can prevented her from doing so, takes her in his arms and carries her to his bedroom. Before he opened the bedroom door she already falls asleep, her head against his chest.

He lays her on the left side of the bed and carefully undresses her. He takes a shirt of his out of the dresser and tries to put it on Emma. Her body keeps going everywhere, sleep & alcohol have taken over her. Finally he managed to get her dressed and lays her under the sheets. He undresses himself and climbed into the bed next to her. Scared he will wake her up or touches her, he moves to the end of the bed. He'd rather falls out the bed than to upset her. He gives her one last look, making sure she is okay, and falls into a deep sleep.

* * *

 **Will Neal ever learn to leave Emma alone? And way to go Killian, laying Emma in bed before she does anything she may regret in the morning.**

 **Hope you guys liked this chapter!**


	11. Chapter 11

**A/N: I really loved writing this chapter and I hope y'all enjoy it!**

 **As always I want to thank my friend R. for making my story even more perfect by taking away my stupid grammar mistakes. Any mistake that's still left is entirely my fault!**

 **I don't own any of the characters and the show.**

* * *

Chapter 11

The next morning Emma woke up with a major hangover. Her mouth was so dry that it felt like it spent the night in the desert. Suddenly she realized there was an arm laying over the side of her body. Her eyes opened wide, who's arm is that?! She started to think back to yesterday evening and remembered Neal coming to the bar and Killian picking her up. _Killian! It's his arm!_ She thought immediatly to herself. She tried to turn her head around without waking him up but she failed. His eyes opened softly, letting the morning light in and then realized that his arm was around Emma's body. "Oh shit, sorry! I didn't intend to do this." He pulled back his arm and moved aside. Emma reached out to grab some more blanckets to cover herself up with. "What happened? Did we, you know, do stuff?" Emma asked with ppanic in her voice

"No, love. We didn't do stuff. You wanted to but I said "no"." He said while looking at her. She saw in his eyes that he was telling the truth. She has this secret thing of knowing when someone lies to her and in times like these, that gift was very welcome. "Thank you." She said while looking down as her cheeks turned red. "No need to thank me love, it was the honorable thing to do. How about I get out of this bed, make us some coffee and give you the opportunity to freshen up?" She nodded her head, turned away as Killian got out of the bed and got dressed.

When he was out the room she dropped the bed sheets and climbed out of the bed herself. She looked down at the shirt she was wearing, that was definitely not hers. Killian must have undressed her and put her into the bed. More memories of last night came back to her. Memories of their talk and suddenly a memory popped up in her mind about her being on top of Killian. _Dear goodness, what did I do?_ She found her clothings, got dressed and walked out the bedroom.

"Coffee should be ready any minute. How do you feel? Do you want some aspirin?" He looked at her concerend. She couldn't help thinking that he almost looked like a young puppy right now. "Yes please, if you have some. How much did I even drink last night?" She took the aspirin from him along with a glass of water. As she swallowed the aspirin, the coffee machine started making noice. "Sorry, for the noise. It's an old thing and it makes this noise when it's ready. I really should get a new one." Emma started to laugh but that made her head throb again. As she grabbed her head it was Killian's time to laugh. "I probably shouldn't make you laugh." "You think so, Captain Obvious?" She said and sat down at the kitchen table.

After a few cups of coffee, she felt a lot better. She wasn't sure if that was because of the aspirin or the coffee but her head wasn't pounding anymore. She even felt a bit hungry. "Do you mind if I make some breakfast?" She asked Killian and he shook his head. "Not at all, knock yourself our,Swan." "I want to make some french toast, do you want some too?" "That sounds delicious, thank you. I'm gonna go take a quick shower if that's okay with you?"She nodded and he showed her where to find everything and headed to the bedroom to take a shower.

She grabbed her phone to turn on some music and headed back to the kitchen. She took a pan from the lower kitchen cabinet along with the bread, eggs and milk. While making breakfast she started to forget everything around her as the music takes over her body. She starts to move and before she knows it she's dancing and even singing.

As he walks out his bedroom he hears music coming from the kitchen. A little smile appeared on his face as he heard Emma singing a long. This woman drives him crazy, in a good way. Last night was amazing. Well,maybe amazing wasn't the right word. There was nothing amazing about Neal harassing her at work. The things he wanted to do with to that man, the guy needed to know when to stop. And Killian was thrilled to let him know that. But he knew Emma would never agree with that so every now and then he played that image in his head.

What was amazing was the fact that he could resist her last night, when she offered herself to him. Okay, she was drunk but still, she wanted him. And he wanted her, so badly. He wanted to make her his girlfriend but she needs time. It wasn't going to be easy, every inch of his body wanted to be close to her, but he would give her everything she demanded.

Having her in his bed didn't make things any easier as well. It was hard for him to not lay any closer to her but when she started saying "help me" in her sleep he took the opportunity. The opportunity to comfort her. So he had moved closer to her and gently placed his arm around her. He smelled the scent of her perfume when he laid his head against her back.

Waking up with his arm around her was a way of waking he could easily get used to. He was speaking the truth when he said to her that he didn't intend to lay his arm around her. She didn't have to know he did so because she was having a bad dream. Seeing her like this, dancing around the kitchen,made him happy. She looked comfortable, a sort of happiness sparkling in her eyes. He didn't want to ruin that by bringing up shit again.

So he just stood there, looking at her. This woman was perfect, he has been waiting for a long time to open up to a woman like Emma. After everything that has happened back home, in Ireland, he was ready to move on.

She jumped when she noticed him leaning against the doorway, looking at her with his arms crossed and a smile on his face. She turned the volume of the music down. "Don't stop,love. I was quite enjoying the sight of you dancing around in my kitchen." He walked further into the kitchen and sat down at the kitchen table. Emma's cheeks turned red as she gave him their breakfast.

"Killian, I want to apologize for my behavior last night. It was inappropriate and it shouldn't have happened." She looked at him, he gave a her a little smile. "No need to apologize,lass. We all do crazy stuff when we are drunk. It was actually lovely to see how you acted." She knows he is mocking her, the sparkle in his bright eyes gave it away.

"I also want to thank you for stopping me. Who knows what would have happened and I'm sure we both don't want to do anything stupid that we would regret in the morning." "Trust me love, you would not regret sleeping with me if that is what you are talking about. I don't mean to brag but I could have shown you the stars."

Now he was just flirting with her. The way he licked his lips made her cheeks turn red again. The fire started to light up her body again and she hates it that he can make her feel like this with one simple action. Before she couldn't control herself anymore she had to get out.

"I have to go." She said and abruptly laid down her knife and fork. "So soon already?"

Just as she wants to get up, her phone beeped. She got a text from Neal.

 _I'm sorry Emma. About last night. Can we meet somewhere and talk about what happened? Neal_

"It's Neal, he wants to talk." She doesn't know why she's saying that to Killian. Maybe it is because she feels safe in his presence. "And what do you want,love? Do you want to talk with him?" "I'm not sure, I don't know how he will react. You know how mad he gets."

"Aye, lass, I'm familiar with his angry side. I'd advise you to talk to him, calmly in a public place. Tell him what you said last night, that it's over between the two of you. And if he gets mad and you get scared you call me and I'll show him what "over" means."

She agrees with him, they can't talk in private. So she texts him back saying to meet up at Elsa's in 30 minutes. "Crap, my car is still at work. I have to get it before I'm seeing Neal." Emma quickly got up from her chair and started grabbing her stuff together. "Slow down,Swan. I'll give you a lift to your work."

She thought about that but she said no. "It's very sweet off you to offer me a ride but I'd rather walk. Gives me some time to think what I'm going to say to Neal and stuff. So thank you, but no thank you." She takes her bag from the table and gives Killian a soft kiss on his cheek. "Thank you for everything Killian." She walked out and didn't see Killian touching the spot her lips were just a few moments ago.

When she walks into Elsa's she could see Neal sitting at a table in the back. She walks over to him but doesn't look at him as she sits down. "Hi Ems." Neal says softly. After a while she says "hi", still refusing to look at him. He isn't the man she used to know, she used to love, anymore. She had made up her mind but still finds it hard and scary to say the words out loud. "We're done, Neal. I'm breaking up with you." When she finally had the courage to look up to him she regretted doing so. His eyes were filled with anger and she pushed her chair back a bit, ready to go when things got out of control.

"You can't be serious about this Emma? I know we've been going through some things lately but to end it is a dumb decision!" He spits histed and she moved her chair a little further back. "Dumb decision Neal? I should have made that decision a long time ago! What you've done is so horrible, I wouldn't wish it on any woman on earth to be treated that way. But it's not only that Neal, it's so much more. I've been thinking about our relationship and we rushed it the beginning. We should have taken it way slower." She sees him thinking her words throuhg and she moves forward a bit. "But the main thing for me to end this is what you did. You really beat me up Neal and I didn't deserve that."

His anger is slowly drifting away and making place for sadness. "You are right Ems, you didn't deserve this and I can't apologize enough for all the horrible stuff I did to you. But I can change, you know that." "I know that you can change but that doesn't change the way I feel about you. I don't want to live in constant fear. It's not good for us." As she moves towards him, she grabs his hand and squeezes it. "Change Neal, not for me but for yourself. There is a lovely lady somewhere in this world that would be happy to have you. But until that day you have to get help for your problems. Stay strong and have faith in yourself."

She can't believe she actually said that. On the way over here she imagined that she would sort of scream at him, letting him know precisely how she felt. But she stands behind the words she tells him instead. She did believe he could change and that there was a right woman for him somewhere on this planet. This relationship was doomed from the beginning and Emma finally sees it. And she believes that Neal is seeing it now as well.

"What about my stuff?" Neal asked. "Well, they are yours ofcourse. If you want you can pick them up whenever you want." His facial expression looked defeated but there was nothing Emma could do about it. "I need some time to find a place to store them, how about I pick everything up in three days?" "That's fine, Neal. You can pick them up whenever you feel like it. It's not that I hate you now, it's just not gonna work out. Let me know how late your gonna pick your stuff up, okay?" He nodded as she stood up. She placed a kiss on his cheek, wishing him the best and walked away.

Outside she sighed in was it, it was really over. She needed to be alone so she started her car and drove to her house. After a minute her phone beeped, it was a text from Killian.

 _Everything okay, Love? x_

She knows exactly what she needed right now and turned her car around, which her fellow road users didn't like as they honked their horns. As she reached Killian's house, she jumped out the car and rushed to his door. She knocked on the door and after a few seconds Killian opened it. "Emma? Are you alright?" Instead of answering his question she grabbed the collar of his vest, pulled him in closer and pressed her lips on his. He was stunned, surprised about what happened but quickly kissed her back. She pulled him in even closer, it felt like they were miles apart. Before he could drag her inside she pulled herself out of the kiss. "I'm in love with you Killian. Madly, deeply, crazy in love with you. But I need some time. Please allow me to get things straight and eventually I'll be yours."

Killian looked at her, completely surprised that she expressed herself like that. "You can't believe how happy I am to hear you say that. You know how I feel about you, Swan. And you know that I would go to the end of the world for you, or time. I have given you space before and if that is what you request again, I'll give it to you." He grabs her hand in his and gives her a soft smile, the smile she loves so much. "Thank you for understanding, Killian." She says as she kisses him softly on the lips. "Be patient" where her last words as she leaves him standing on the porch, a big smile on both of their faces.

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 **Hope everyone enjoyed reading this chapter as I enjoyed writing it! If you have any comment you can leave a review at the bottom of the page.**

 **By the way, did we all see the season 4 bloopers? We sure have an amazing cast and they are all very funny!**


	12. Chapter 12

**A/N: Chapter 12 is here, woohoo! Hope you enjoy it & if you like you can leave a review at the bottom of the page**

 **Like always, a huge thanks to my friend R. for taking away the mistakes I made.**

 **I do not own any of the characters and the show**

* * *

Chapter 12

Three days later, Neal could be here any minute to pick up his stuff. Emma got nervous, not knowing what to do. The last few days she spent by sorting stuff out and place them into boxes. She wants this to be done as quickly as possible.

The doorbell rings and Emma jumped at the sound. She opened the door and there he was. "I wasn't sure if I could use the key or not so I rang the bell." Neal said.

She opened the door wider so that Neal could come in. She was surprised to see that he was alone. But on the other hand, August seems to be his only friend and she was sure the only thing August did, was drink all day.

"I already placed your stuff into boxes, I hope that's okay." She asks nervously. She hates to feeling like this, vulnerable and insecure. She constantly keeps thinking he's gonna hit her again. " _Stay strong,Emma. It soon will be all over."_ She thought to herself as she watched Neal walking around.

"So you really are serious about this?" There was something with Neal, he did not seems to be himself. There was this look in his eyes that she could not place. "Why would I not be serious about this,Neal?" For a moment they just kept staring at each other, Emma gets more nervous by the second.

Then Neal breaks up the silence: "I want you back Emma. Please don't do this, I really want to change. For you." Emma sighed in relief, she thought he would lose his mind again. As she looks at him she can see his words are serious, he really wants her back. _"Don't fall for it girl, you made your decision."_ Her inner self said.

"I'm truly sorry Neal, but I stand by my decision. Damage has been done, there is no turning back. Even now I can't stop thinking that you are gonna lose control any moment. I can't live like that anymore. It's time I put myself first." Neal looked like he could burst into tears, what a wimp. But then his eyes darkens and she steps back.

"You are forgetting who really cared for you when everyone else turned their backs on you. I never made a big deal out of what you have done in the past. Even Mary Margaret didn't talk to you for years. And now you are dumping me like I am nobody." He is breathing heavy now and Emma quickly steps back.

"I am well aware of the things you have done for me, Neal. If you weren't there at that moment I probably wouldn't be standing here. You know I'm thankful for that but I do not deserve to be beaten up by you, or anyone else for that matter. Now, if you would be so kind and pick up your stuff and go, at this point I'm really done talking to you." She walks to the front door and opens it wide to set action to her words.

Neal looked defeated, and he was. There was nothing else he could do except pick up one of the boxes and walk out. This would take forever so Emma grabbed a box too and placed it in the back of the car with the others. Luckily, Neal didn't have much belongings so they were done after 6 or 7 boxes. Without even saying goodbye she walked back in and locked the door.

She sits down on the couch and takes a good look around, the place feels so empty now. She doesn't know where it is coming from but suddenly there's a tear rolling down her face. As she wipes it away, another one falls down. Before she knows it she is crying, not sobbing but actually crying.

She feels weird, like she's the one who got dumped. It's okay to feel sad, they did had a great time before everything happened.

She has to get out of the house, it was all getting too much. So she grabbed her keys and headed out. She starts her car and drives off, not knowing where to go.

She drives through town, people were doing their grocery shopping. She drives past Mr. Golds pawn shop. She wanted to buy somethingt there once but she did not trust the guy. The deals he made were ridiculous, she walked out quickly and never went back again.

She almost drove into Grumpy. That wasn't his real name, nobody knew his real name. They started calling him that because he is always grumpy. "Watch where you are going!" He spat. She apologizes and continues driving.

She was not aware of going there but she reached the docks. She parks he'd car,sighs and gets out. Boats were coming in and going out and she sits down on a bench. There was a time in her past that she came here regularly, just to sit and think.

Her life hasn't been easy, most of her life she just wanted to forget. And she managed to do so, until Neal brought it up again. There were a few years, a year or two, that she wasn't proud of. You can't take back what you have done but you can learn from your mistakes and grow. That's exactly what she has done.

"Surprising to find you here,love" Emma jumped as she heard Killian's familiar accent. "Killian, what are you doing here?" Bright blue eyes looked at here as she turned around to face him. "I was out for a nice walk through town actually. Haven't done that since I arrived here so it seemed a good thing to do. What brings you here,love? Did Neal pick up his stuff yet?"

She looked down at her hands, she had hoped nobody would find her. She didn't want to talk about it, especially not with Killian. She sighed and then said: "yeah he did. He left half an hour ago." By the tone of her voice he could hear that she doesn't want to talk about it. So he just sits there, hoping his presence will calm her down. Something is up and he wants to be there for her. If she wants to talk about it she would say something eventually.

So they sit there for minutes, without saying a word to each other. "I get that you don't want to talk about it Swan, why not just go for a walk? You don't have to talk about it but this bench isn't all that comfortable." Killian stands up and stretches both his legs. She stands up, still not talking, and starts to walk. Killian follows her, happy he can walk a bit.

"Killian?" "Yes love?" Emma reaches for his hand, takes it and holds it with a steady grip. "I'm sorry for not being such fun company today." He squeezes her hand a bit. "That's okay lass, I understand it is not easy for you." A little smile appears on her face which made him smile.

"Thank you for understanding and not pushing me into talking about it. To make you feel better, Neal didn't hit me. Not with his hands that is." He looks at her, confusion written on his face.

She sighed, she wants to tell him but a part of her is stopping her to do so. And the other part, didn't know where to begin. "If I tell you something, do you promise me you won't judge me?" She asked him. "I swear I will not judge you. We've probably all had shit to deal with in the." She looked at him, she wants to kiss him so badly right now. Her inner self told her to stop thinking about his soft lips. She giggled a bit which made Killian look at her.

"There was a time that I did stuff." She starts and Killian squeezes her hand again, encouraging her to continue. Not because he was curious but because he wanted to help talk about her past and feelings. "I lost my way in life, didn't know what to do anymore so I started stealing. Not that I am very proud of that but the rush made me feel a sort of, I don't know, alive. I pushed everyone away in that time, Mary Margaret didn't wanted anything to do with me anymore. I lost my only friend and the only thing I did was steal more and more."

She pauses for a moment, looking at Killian to see if he was judging her. He looks back, smiling a soft smile and nods at her to let her finish her story. "Once I almost got caught when I tried to steal groceries. Luckily it ended well and that's when I decided to turn my life around. I started looking for a job soon followed by a house. I called Mary to apologize. It took a while but eventually she forgave me and slowly she became a part of my life again. Things were going good for once but I could feel that Mary still had issues with my previous life." Tears were filling her eyes and she blinked to get them to go away. She didn't want to cry, not now and not in front of Killian.

"Then I met Neal and I finally started to feel happy again. Mary Margaret knew I was doing better by then, she knew I didn't planned on going back to the past anymore. And today, Neal brought my whole past back up again."

He stopped her, takes her other hand in his as well. "Look at me,love. It's okay. Like I said, we all did stuff in the past. Don't let the past take over your life, live your life. Now, tomorrow, but not yesterday." He bends over and softly laid his lips on hers. She feels like she could cry, she loved this feeling. The feeling of being understood, loved, a feeling she hasn't felt in a very long time.

"I have built some pretty highh walls around me, Killian. It's not something I wanted to do, at that time it felt like the right thing to do. Everyone had shut me out, so why bother anyone in if eventually they leave again?" She continues. Right now, she wanted to tell him everything. She wants to make him understand why she's so...stubborn and cold-hearted even.

"I'm not intending to push you away, right now my innerself wants to keep you out. I know it doesn't make any sense. You know what, just let it go. I have to much baggage, you better walk away now if you don't want to be hurt." Emma pushed herself away from Killian and started to walk away. He gently places his hand around her arm and in that way forces her to stop walking.

"Swan, don't run away. Please." The tone of his voice made her feel guilty. Guilty for continuing to keep giving him mixed signals. One time she can't seem to stay away from him and the other time, she wants to run as fast as she can. "It's what i know best, Killian. Running away is the only thing I do, the only thing I'm good at. I don't like feeling afraid so to avoid that feeling I run away.

"Love, you think you're the only one that had or has a rough time? Trust me, we all have issues. Remember I said something about difficult things back home?" She nodded but does not look at him, embarrassed. "I lost my brother last year. Him and I were close, extremely close. He was 3 years older than me, wanted to be a police officer. When he was finally ready to fulfill his first day, he get's shot by a 13-year old gangmember. Killed in cold blood, 30 minutes after his shift started."

She looks up at him, shocked. When she sees his face, every inch of that beautiful face is all sadness, a single tear leaves the corner of her right eye and wanders over her cheek. He pulls her closer in his arms again, raises his hand to her face and wipes a way her tear. "We shared a house together and everything reminded me of him. I couldn't handle it anymore so I packed my bag and ran away, like you do. Packed my bags, ran away to America because I'd probably wouldn't be standing here if I stayed home." Suddenly Emma places her head against his chest and gives him a big hug.

"You see Emma, we all have problems. And I'm not going anywhere, I am not giving up on you. Thanks to you I feel like I can live again." She looks up at him, trying to read his face to see if he really means it. "I'm sorry about your brother, about talking about my shit while you have to go through that. I didn't mean to be selfish, if you hadn't been around I wouldn't be standing here as well." They stare in each other's eyes for a minute until Emma starts to shiver.

"It's getting colder, Swan. Take my jacket, it will keep you warm." His offer sounds very tempting but instead she preferred to go home. "No, thank you. I want to go home actually. I want to go to bed, I'm exhausted." Her grip around him loosens and she takes a step back. "Get some rest, Love. I'll walk you to your car." They walked back in silence, both not really knowing what to say anymore. They both felt like everything has been said, for this moment.

They arrived at her car, said goodbye to each other and when Emma looks into her back mirror she sees him putting his hands in the pockets of his jacket, warming them up. She starts her car and quickly drives off home, she really just wants to sleep.

She parks her car in front of the house and looks at the black emptiness that's waiting for her on the inside. She grabs her phone and sends Killian a text. _Why is it so hard to stay away from this man?_ she thinks to herself

 _Come to my house, please…. E_

She locks her car door, opens her frontdoor and turns on some lights. She didn't know how long it will take until Killian is here so she just puts on some music. But quickly turns it off again, she isn't in the mood for music afterall. She then walks to her bedroom and puts on her pyjamas but jumps when she hears a knock on her front door.

She opens the door and there stands Killian, heavy breathing as if he had run a marathon. "Swan? What's wrong? I wanted to be here as soon as I could, is everything okay?" She melts by the sight of him looking like a puppy, takes his hand and pulls him gently into the hall. "Swan?" He asks again but she couldn't respond, she doesn't trust her voice at this moment.

She hears him breath in as they walk into the bedroom, confusion in his eyes. "Killian, could you please stay with me until I fall asleep?Please?" He isn't able to reply to that, this time he's the one that does not trust his voice. But then he finds his thick voice back again, guides her to her side of the bed and starts to lay her down. Then he sits next to her on the bed and she get's up again. "Your misunderstanding, lay next to me and hold me. I just don't want to be alone right now." If Killian was surprised by her request he doesn't let it show. He stands up, walks around the bed and crawls beside her. He pulls her closer into his arms and just holds her until he hears her breath becomes steady because she fell asleep. With her close beside him it doesn't take long for him to fall sleep as well.


	13. Chapter 13

**A/N: Sorry for the delay for this chapter!**

 **Like always, a huge thank you to my friend R. for checking my stupid mistakes. If there is still any mistake than that is entirely my own fault!**

 **I do not own any of the characters and show**

 **Enjoy!**

* * *

Chapter 13

The next morning Emma wakes up to the sound of pots and pans being pushed around in the kitchen cabinet. She listens a bit disorientated and then realizes it must be Killian she's hearing. She reaches next to her, searching for her phone. When she finds it she presses the home button and jumps up when she sees it's 10 o'clock already. She gets out of bed and walks into the kitchen.

"Good morning love, I hope I didn't wake you up with all these noises. I wanted to make some eggs for breakfast and wake you up but I can't find a bloody thing in here." She chuckles because of his annoyance and then quickly helps him with getting what he needed. "Yeah, sorry about that. Being organized is not really my thing. So don't react that way to my stuff but directly to me please." He turns his head to her and gives her a little kiss on the forehead. "Sorry love but you really have to do something about this mess."

She rolls her eyes and then walks into the bathroom to freshen up a bit. She doesn't feel like getting dressed already so she grabs her negligee and walks back to the kitchen where it smells delicious. "Did you stay the entire night?" She asks as she gets herself a glass of milk.

"As a matter of fact I did, I fell asleep a few seconds after you did. I hope that's alright?" He sounds insecure and Emma melts when she sees his puppy eyes. "I guess so. I did kinda ask you to stay with me. Thank you for that by the way, I really appreciate everything you do for me." They gaze at each other for a few seconds. _"How can he still look this perfect in the morning?"_ Emma thinks to herself. His hair looks the same like yesterday, did he shower here?

"No need to thank me, lass. A pretty woman like you deserves my full attention." He scratches his finger behind his ear, something he does when he flirts with her. Emma didn't notice that until now. She rolled her eyes and starts setting up the kitchen table. "What's for dinner, Captain?" She chuckles as she takes out two plates, a fork and knife and some cups for the milk.

"I am making scrambled eggs, at least that's what I'm trying but this is the second time they've burned." He takes the pan of the stove, ready to throw it into the sink. "Woah, relax! Here, let me help you." She lays her left hand on top of his and with her right she gently takes away the hot pan. She can see from the corners of her eyes that he is staring at her and her cheeks turn red. A smile appears on his face and he takes a step back. "It's all yours, Swan."

Killian's face is a bit grumpy as he realizes that Emma's eggs are perfect. He can't stop blaming the equipment Emma has for his failure. He just made a complete fool out of him self. "Stop worrying Killian, you're not the first one that screwed up eggs in this house." Emma says smiling as she lays his eggs on his plate.

"I just wanted to make the perfect breakfast for you and your stuff ruins it for me!" "Just eat your eggs and stop worrying about it." She starts to make her own breakfast and hears Killian's noises of approval from behind her. "Swan, this is really good!" Killian says with his mouth full. "I wouldn't eat that fast if I were you." She starts to laugh soon followed by Killian's laugh.

"Lass, what if we hang out today? You know, just the two of us?" He's doing the ear scratching thing again and it's hard for Emma to refuse that any longer. But somehow she manages to do so as she tells him that she would rather be alone today. "Sure, love. Rest a bit and we can hang out anytime. The rest of breakfast is being eaten in silence. Killian offers to help clean but Emma declines that so Killian goes home instead.

As soon as Emma is done with cleaning the kitchen, Killian really turned it into a warzone, she gets back to bed. She just wants to lay in bed, doing absolutely nothing. Was it the right thing to ask if Killian wanted to spend the night with her? Sure, nothing happened, they have only slept. But still, isn't she going too fast with this? She had done that with Neal and look where that went. She has to take it a bit slower with Killian, she doesn't want to screw this up. But for now, all she wants is to close her eyes and sleep.

 ** _Killian_**

"Mate, what are you doing?" "Not much really, wanna come over?" "Yeah, I'll see ya in a bit."

Killian presses Graham's doorbell and quickly after that he opened the door. "Killian, come on in. What's up?" Graham steps aside a bit so that Killian can enter the hallway. He walks into the living room, followed by Graham. "Not much, just got back from Emma's apartment. She asked me if I wanted to stay with her for the night." He takes off his jacket, hangs it over the couch and sighs as he sits down.

"So things are getting serious between the two of you then?" Graham asks from the kitchen where he is making some coffee. "To be honest, mate, I have no idea where we are going. She said she is in love with me but then again she's keeping a distance between us as well,"

Killian takes the coffee mug from his friend and gratefully takes a sip. He kind of forgot that it's hot and almost burned his mouth. "You can't blame her for keeping her distance Killian, the girl has gone through so much. The best thing you can do for her is be there as much as you can."

Killian had told Graham everything, about Neal, about Emma's confession on his porch. This man was his best friend and like women, guys had to share some thoughts with their mates as well. "I know and I'm being there as much as I can and as much as she allows me to be there for her. I just want to see her happy, her smile is even brighter than the sun. And I want to be the one making her happy." He places his mug on the table, lays back a bit and sighs again.

"I know it's rough but if it helps, I really think she wants you to make her happy as well. She said she is in love with you, I can clearly see that you are in love with her or else you wouldn't have be here talking like this. Just give her some time. Like I said, she's been through a lot lately and I think she wants to take it slow."

Graham looks at his friend with sympathy. He is happy that Killian wants to make things work with Emma but he needs to slow down.

"Ugh Graham, I hate it when you are right." He punches his friend on the shoulder and the two men laughed. "You know Killian, it's been a long time since I've seen you like this since, well, you know." "Since Liam, you can say his name Graham. But you are right, I feel different since the first time I've seen her. I don't know man, there is something about her that makes me feel like this." He takes another sip from his coffee again, glad that he's not burning his mouth again.

"Just give the girl some time, Killian. True love always wins. And besides, you have to go to New York tomorrow anyway." His friend was right, he had to leave tomorrow for work. So Emma would have what she wanted, he wouldn't be around.

He spends the entire day with Graham, they just watch a couple of movies to take his mind of Emma. But the girl was in his thoughts all the time. If only she would let him in and let him help her with every demon she is facing. But he respects her too much to push her to her limits. He had found her and he does not want to lose her. Not like he lost his brother. He was in this for the long term.

 ** _Emma_**

She lays in bed the entire day. She only came out for short toilet breaks but those where rare since she hardly drinks and eats. She kept thinking about Killian, work, even Neal crossed her mind. She had no idea of what she wants anymore. Yes, she is in love with Killian and enjoys being around him. Fuck, she enjoys being around him extremely. But at the same time she does not want to rush things. Neal was gone for almost a week now, she needs some time to heal or whatever. She knows she made the right decision but it wasn't an easy decision to make. A small part of her still loves Neal. He was her first love, her only love.

She can't shake the feeling that Neal wouldn't give up this easy. What if he came back one day, drunk as shit and demands her to take him back? _He can demand all he wants, you're not going back sister._ " Of course her inner self would say that, she was ready to fight the asshole. But for Emma, it was not that easy. She was so confused about everything, she was almost at the point she gives up everything and runs. Just run, like she has done before. It would be easy, pack her stuff and just go.

But she couldn't leave her friends behind. Mary Margaret, David, the girls from work…They will not be happy if she suddenly disappears. What if she calls Mary Margaret and asks if she could stay there for a few days? Just to relax and take her mind off of things. She could always give that a try. But not right now. Now she just wants to get back to sleep.

She checks her phone, no missed calls or texts and she has doubts about if she should text Killian. She does not want to disturb him with whatever he is doing and for now, she doesn't know what to say to him. So instead, she lays down and closes her eyes. Quickly she falls into a deep sleep again.

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 **If you have any thought about this chapter, or any previous chapters, feel free to leave a review below!**

 **By the way, Once Upon A Time returns in 27 days! WOOHOO!**


	14. Chapter 14

**A/N: Finally a new chapter! I am so, so sorry about taking so long to post this! It's completely my fault. It started with me sending the wrong chapter to my friend R. (the one that is so kind to check my horrible mistakes 3) and by the time we figured that out her school started again and I told her that school is more important than my silly fanfiction.**

 **Anyways, if there is still any grammar mistake in this chapter than I'm the one to blame!**

 **I do not own any of the characters and the show**

 **Enjoy!**

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Chapter 14

"Of course you can stay with us for a few days Emma. You know that you are always welcome for as long as you want." Emma finally found the courage to go to her friends and ask if she could stay there. Right now she hugged Mary Margaret, thankful for her kindness and her friendship. Her and David are the only two people she has right now. Of course she "has" Killian as well but then more in a different way.

He texted her this morning before leaving to New York for a few days which she was happy with. Now she had the space to become better and spend some time with her friends. She takes a sip from her strawberry flavored tea and smiles at her friends.

"Thank you guys, you are the best. I don't know what I would do without the two of you." David lays his hand on top of Emma's and gives it a little squeeze. "Mary Margaret is right, you can stay here as long as you like. After all we're a sort of family." "Thank you David, it really means a lot to me."

"I am just struggling with so much right now. I just need to get out of the house for a few days. When can I come?" She looks at her friends with a slight embarrassment. She hates asking this but she knows she has to. "Emma, you can stay now if you'd like. You know how we think of it. And me and David have rented a movie so you can watch it with us if you want. It'll take your mind of things." Mary Margaret said.

She said goodbye to her friends and drives home to get some of her stuff. She would only stay for a few days so she doesn't have to bring much. As she packs her bag, her phone beeps. The display said she got a text from Killian.

 _I hope everything is okay over there. I just landed and was thinking about you. Take care, love. I'll be back in five days. K_

She smiled at her phone, so sweet of him to check if everything is fine.

 _Everything okay, glad you landed safely. I'll be staying at Mary Margaret and David's for a few days. Thinking about you too._

She puts her phone in the back pocket of her jeans and continues packing. The bag is not even half full but that's nothing new. She never had much stuff in case she would be gone soon, again. She might think about getting some more stuff but now, that was just not what she wanted to think about.

Later that night after dinner, Mary Margaret cooked some delicious spaghetti, the three of them sat down on the couch to watch _Once Upon A Time._ It's a movie about villains and hero's and happy endings and such but after half an hour Emma lost track of who is related to who, so she takes out her book.

Then her phone starts to buzz, another text from Killian.

 _At Time Square right now, hope I can show it to you one day. K_

She chuckles, he remembered her love for New York City. She hesitates, should she reply? After all, she was here to take her mind off of things. And that included Killian as well. Still, it was very hard not to think about him. An image of Killian pops up in her mind, his bright blue eyes staring at her. A flirtatious smile on his face and him scratching behind his ears. She thinks about sleeping beside him, in his arms, and she can feel her cheeks turning red.

"Everything alright Emma?" David suddenly asks. She jumps up out of her thought. Her cheeks turning more red as she feels caught. "Yeah, sorry. I was just thinking about something." "Looks more like you were thinking about _someone_ instead of _something_." Mary Margaret jokes.

"Actually, I was thinking about someone." She says nervous. "And that someone would be Killian?" Emma shouldn't be surprised Mary Margaret knows exactly who she is talking about. Nobody knows her better than Mary Margaret. "Good guess." She sits up, getting more nervous now. Because now they want to talk about him. "What's going on with you and Killian anyway?" David asks with his big brother voice. "Are you sure you want to know David?" She chuckles. "Depends on what's to come. I'm not looking for any details!" She sees in his face that he wants to leave, worried there might be things coming that he definitely never wants to know off.

"Relax David, it's nothing like that. Yes, we kissed a few times. I kind of confessed to him that I'm in love with him but that I need some time and he has spent one night with me." The look on David's face says it all right now, he is not happy with what she just said. "Oh stop it David, I asked him to stay with me until I fell asleep. He can't help it that he fell asleep as well."

David only looks more furious while Mary Margaret is getting more happy by the second. "You asked him what? And he fell asleep? I can not believe what I am hearing. What were you thinking Emma? You don't know him and you ask him to stay with you?" David raises his voice, she should have not said those things with him around. Those were details only Mary Margaret should know. But now, damage has been done.

Emma looks at Mary Margaret, hoping her friend will back her up on this. "David, relax. Nothing happened. There is no need to be mad at Emma or Killian. We might not know him that well but I trust Emma. If she feels comfortable enough around him then the decision is up to her." David looks at his girlfriend and after a while his eyes soften.

"You're right Mary. It's just…I don't want someone to hurt Emma again. She's been hurt enough, she deserves so much more than that." "I know David, that's why she is here. To figure out what to do with him. Besides, she can't chose the person she falls in love with." Emma looks at Mary and mimes a "Thank you" to her. "I'm sorry if I scared you David, that was not my intention. But I do believe that Killian is a good person. It's just that I don't want to rush things."

"That are very wise words Emma. Sorry for talking like that about him. Just be careful, okay?" "Of course I'll be carefull David. If it is okay with you guys. I'd like to go to bed." She puts away her book and stands up. "Goodnight guys. And thanks again for letting me stay here." "Goodnight Emma, sleep well." She hugs Mary Margaret and David gives her a kiss on her forehead. She smiles at him and then walks upstairs.

Once she's in bed she decides to text Killian back.

 _Would love to go to New York someday and walk in Times Square together. Maybe one day, when everything is better. In bed right now, feel like I could sleep forever. E_

She knows the text is lame and he'll probably won't even text back. She is surprised when not even a minute later he sends a text back.

 _Everything will be better, Swan. It just takes time. Don't sleep forever, I won't be able to spend time with you if you sleep all the time! K_

She chuckles, she enjoys these stupid conversations with him. She really is tired but instead of sleeping, she keeps texting him back.

 _We could sleep together forever though…Or you can try to kiss me awake, I'll be sleeping beauty and you'll be my prince. E_

 _You are a real beauty indeed, my princess, and kissing you sounds so great right now. So does sleeping together….What are you doing to me Swan? K_

 _I'm not doing anything right now. I can't control what my words do to you. E_

 _If only you were here, I'd show you what your words do to me, lass. You're not making it any easy on me right now. You're going to pay for that when I get home. K_

 _Is that a threat Mr Jones? E_

 _Not a threat Miss Swan, think of it as a promise. Now go to sleep, you can use the rest. K_

She smiles as she puts her phone away. She lays back, closes her eyes and before she falls asleep, an image of Killian pops up again. That night she had one of the best dreams she ever had. The next morning she wakes up with the thought of Killian coming back in a few days. Never has she been as happy as she was now.

Four days later she's back in her own apartment again. She had some time to think about stuff and she's more clear about her future now than she had ever been. She sees herself having a future with Killian, she's even going to quit her job. She likes working in the bar but it's not what she wants to continue doing for the rest of her life. She wants to build up a happy future with Killian and working in a bar does not fit into that.

She also wants to move out of her apartment. Too much stuff had happened here and she does not want to be reminded of that every time she comes home. She had already looked at an apartment but somehow she wanted to talk to Killian about it. If she wasn't mistaking, he should come back in a few hours.

She texted him if he wanted to come over for dinner if he would not be too tired from the flight but so far she didn't get a response back from him. He would probably be up in the plane right now. So to pass the time she started cleaning a bit.

After a while she thought she had heard her phone and when she looks at it she sees that Neal texted her 15 times in 10 minutes. The texts go from "Hey, how are you?" to "Why are you ignoring me?" which followed with a "Are you fucking Killian, bitch?"

She started to freak out, what if he came to her house? She starts wandering around, thinking about what to do. At this point texted Neal back or keep ignoring his texts would not make any difference, he would still be pissed. He's probably drunk again, no way he would do this when he's sober.

Just as she thinks she's going to call somebody there's a knock on her door. She freezes, scared to her bones. _It's him,_ she thinks. Shortly after the first knock the second one sounds, louder and more demanding than the first one. "Emma! Open up! I know you are in there." Neal shouts through her mailbox. "EMMA! OPEN UP YOU STUPID BITCH" He keeps yelling and pounding the door. She still can't move, too afraid to make any noise and hoping he would go away if she just stays where she is.

She jumps up suddenly as the pounding sounds intensifies and it sounds like the door would break any second. She has got to do something, quick! She rushed to the front door, quickly locks it from the inside and rushes back inside again.

She grabs her phone, searches for the right number and hits the dial button.

" _Emma, I saw your text but I just landed. Should be at your place in an hour or so."_ Emma starts to cry, not able to say anything back now that she knows he isn't near here to help. _"Emma? Are you alright? What's going on?"_ She can here the panic boiling up in his voice. "Killian, please hurry up. He's here, Neal is here."

It stays silent at the other end of the phone for a while. Then she hears him curse inside his mouth. "Lock everything, make sure he can't get in the house. I'm going to call Graham, he lives five minutes away from you. Hold on, love. I'll be home as soon as possible."

She doesn't think he noticed that he said "home" and even Emma doesn't hate the sound of that. But she didn't have time to worry about which words Killian chose, Neal was still screaming and pounding on the door. "Go away Neal, please. Please, just leave me alone." She gets down on her knees, her hands in her hair and crying like there is no tomorrow. "Emma, OPEN UP! I'm going to kill you!"

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 **ONCE COMES BACK IN 8 DAYS!**


	15. Chapter 15

**A/N: Wow...Was last chapter's episode a cliffhanger or was that a cliffhanger? Thank you all for the lovely reviews after I posted that chapter. I did enjoy leaving you guys with that and make you wait for this chapter. Emma will definitely show courage in this chapter..**

 **A BIG thank you to my beta Reader R. who does an amazing job with correcting me in the little amount of time she has with school and all (real live can be a pain in the ass sometimes..) If there is still any mistake than I am the one to blame.**

 **I'm still working on chapter 17(chapter 16 is finished and ready to post soon) but I am not sure when I can finish it. I am so busy with things lately but I have not forgotten about it. Please be patient, I will post new chapters as soon as I can.**

 **I do not own any of the characters and the show.**

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Chapter 15

In the distance she hears a woman scream. It sounds so far that it's impossible that it's her. But then she realizes it is her, she is screaming as if she is on fire. She had it with this guy, it really needs to end, here and now. And apparently she was the only one who can make it stop.

Neal was still knocking on the door, she hoped Graham would be here sometime soon. "For fuck sake Neal, why can't you just leave me alone? If you think this shouting at my door will get you anywhere then you could not have been any more wrong."

She still sat there, on her knees and tears running down her face. But they weren't tears of fear, it was tears of frustration. She knew leaving Neal wouldn't been easy but she didn't think it would be like this. How could she have been so naïve?

Then she hears a man's voice by the door that isn't Neal's, it must be Graham. Thank goodness, he was here. "Who the hell are you? Are you screwing my girlfriend as well?" She could hear Neal's anger even though he has lowered his voice. She got up her feet again, considering if she should take a look. She slowly walked towards the door, very carefully listening to what the guys are saying.

"You're girlfriend? As far as I know she dumped your drunk ass." She hears Graham saying and she knows it does not make Neal any less angry than he is now. "Dumped me? That sneaky bitch is mine!" Neal hissed back at him.

"Yours? Really Neal, I am yours? As far as I know, I'm not anybody's! And most certainly not yours you lazy, drunk asshole." She couldn't resist it anymore, she had opened the door and now snapped at him with every bit of anger inside her. And since Neal kept pushing her limit more and more each time there was a lot of anger inside her. "Emma, I don't want to make any trouble. I am here to try to talk to you, try to see if I can get you back?"

"Get me back? Are you serious Neal? How exactly do you think you can try to get me back? Because standing here at my front door, threatening me and talking shit to my friends isn't going to work." She looks at Graham who has taken a step back and encouraging to tell him the truth with a nod.

"I'm sorry Emma, I should not have come here like this and threaten you. It's just that I feel so lost without you." He steps closer to her and while she takes a step back, Graham steps forwards again and reaching his arm out to Neal. "I think this is close enough dude. She clearly does not want you any closer." "Who the fuck are you to talk like that to me? What are you even still doing here?"

That's it, Emma has reached her boiling point. She takes one step closer, pushes Graham a side a bit and slapped Neal on his right cheek with her bare hand. His eyes open by the surprise of her action and places a hand over the spot she just hit. "What the….?"

"Don't ever talk to me or my friends again, you hear me? Now get the hell away from here before I really start punching you. You fucked me up enough already and it's about time you're going to stop." She pressed her finger nails in the skin of her hand as she has folded them into fists. Neal was still rubbing his right cheek and Emma could see it turning red. From the corner of her eyes she could see Graham struggling to not laugh after Emma hitting Neal. She did not blame him if he did burst out in laughter, she knows she will be laughing about this sometime too.

"Emma, please, let me talk to you." "The time to talk is over Neal. Now, if you don't go I will call the police and let them take you to jail and I'll ask for a restraining order." Neal's eyes widened again, this time because of shock. "Would you really do that?" Neal asks surprised. "You heard the lady, time to go." Emma walks back in and let's Graham deal with Neal. Not really fair of her to do so but she got tired of looking at Neal's begging eyes.

She actually was surprised that Neal would let Graham escort him out to the street that easily. After a minute or so, Graham came back in. "Are you alright Emma?" He asks as soon as he enters the living room. He finds Emma sitting on the couch, staring outside with the remains of her tears stuck to her cheek.

"Sorry? Oh yeah, I'm fine. Just a bit shaky but that's all. Thank you Graham, for wanting to come here." She looks up at him and gives him a soft smile. "You're more than welcome Emma. I know how much you mean to Killian so if he wants me to be a hero when he can't, I'll gladly fulfill that job for him." He smiles back at her and then walks into the kitchen to get Emma a glass of water. Gratefully she takes it from her and drinks it all up in one big gulp.

"I got to say Emma, that was so badass what you did there. You most certainly did the right thing by slapping him in the face." She noticed that there was some sort of proudness in his voice and she shrugged. "Well thank you." At least she could smile a bit again.

"I think you know pretty much anything about me and Neal then?" The words came blurring out of her mouth, not sure if she really wanted to ask that question. But somehow she did and she looked him into his eyes with confidence.

"Aye, that I do. Around here I'm Killian's only friend, besides you of course, but somethings he just can't talk about certain things with you. Never have I judged you Emma, I was only there for Killian so he could clear his mind. He has really grow fond of you, you know." He sits next beside her, looking her straight in her eyes. She knew he was telling the truth.

"It's okay Graham. I would have not blamed you if you did judge me. When I hit Neal in his face just now, all I could think about was how I should have gotten rid of him way sooner. Even Killian told me to leave him but I was just too blind to see I guess. And when he said those words to me, that I had to leave Neal, he didn't even know me that well."

She lowers her eyes to the ground, plays with the empty glass a bit. "He wants what's best for you Emma. And I think everyone could see what happened between you and Neal but love makes us blind sometimes." She looks at him again, he knows her better than she thought he did.

"Killian told you a lot, hasn't he?" She shrugged and Graham gives her a shy smile. "Like I said, he has grown really fond of you and he is very concerned about you sometimes. I haven't seen him like this since his brother died, and I know him since we we're 14. You bring the best out of him and he wants you to be happy. He wants to make you happy as you make him."

She does not know what to say to this. It's all a bit too much, Neal standing at her front door and now this "confession" from Killian's longtime friend. "I think I am going to rest a bit until Killian gets here. You are welcome to stay if you want to wait for him as well." She stands up and so does he. "If you don't mind having me around to keep an eye out than I'll gladly stay here. You take your rest, I'll text Killian that I'll wait for him here." She gives him a nod and then walks into the bed room. As soon as her head hits her pillow, she is fast asleep.

"Thank you for helping out mate, I really appreciate it."

Emma wakes up from the sound of Killian's voice in the living room and she immediately sits up straight.

"It's no problem Killian, you know I would do anything for you. And I know how important this woman is too you. But she really showed some balls today. Seriously, she hit him in the face so badly!"

Emma smiled at Graham's enthusiasm and she was proud of herself as well. She keeps quiet so they won't hear that she is awake.

"She did now? Would have loved to see the look on his face then." Killian shrugged and she hears him sitting down on the couch. "But seriously now, how is she doing? I hope he didn't upset her too much?" "She is alright. Of course a bit shaky afterwards but she managed herself. We talked a bit and then she wanted to rest a bit until you came back for her. We talked a bit and I understand why you like her so much, she is a very lovely lady Killian. Take real good care of her. Like I said a few days ago, the best thing you can do is simply be there for her. And you are doing a really great job with that."

The boys say goodbye to each other as Graham walks out. She can hear Killian walk towards the bedroom and she quickly lays down. The last thing she wants is for Killian to find out that she was kind of eavesdropping on them.

The door opens, Killian slowly walks towards her side of the bed and gently places a hand on her cheek. "Emma? Are you awake, love? I'm home." Her heart melts when she hears his voice softly whisper in her ears. She had really missed him and she wants to jump in his arms so badly but somehow she manages to open her eyes like she just wakes up. "Hi", she says with a whisper. She gets up a bit and let him take her in his arms. She plants her nose into his neck, taking in his scent which started to light up the fire within her again.

"I am so happy you are okay, Emma. I was so worried that I almost yelled at the cab driver to hurry up. But I knew that you would be in great hands with Graham. If I am to believe what he said, you did quite the job by telling Neal to leave." He loosens his grip around her and she tilts her head to look him into his eyes.

"I am just as surprised as you are. I did not think I would be capable of such things. But I had reached my boiling point with him." She gives him a shy but proud smile and he rubs the dimple in her chin. "I am not surprised about that, lass. I have always known that you had the power in you to do such things."

He takes her hand and helps her to get out of the bed. He guides her into the bathroom where he starts the shower. He gives her a kiss on the cheek and walks towards the door. "If you want, freshen up. I am taking you out to dinner tonight to take you mind off of things." He shuts the door and she gets undressed, a shower is exactly what she wants right now. And she was genuinely happy he's taking her out. She loves to spend time in his presence.

After thirty minutes she comes walking into the living room in a simple jeans and a low cut top. She shrugged as she sees Killian's mouth almost dropping to the floor. "Swan, you look stunning! Who knew a simple jeans could look so good on anyone." With that last sentence he was just mocking her and she rolled her eyes. "And you look like you've just got home from a business trip." She eyes him from toe to head, he's wearing a stone washed jeans with a pair of fancy shoes and a shirt with leather jacket.

"Now, if you don't mind love, I'm going to freshen up a bit as well. Give me a few minutes and we're good to go." She watched him walk out the room, the jeans really made his ass look incredible. Her cheeks turned a bit red, fire inside her starting to burn up again and she was happy Killian could not see her right now.

As said, he came back five minutes later with a new jeans and shirt on. He smiled as he came in, his eyes brighter than ever. Those eyes would possibly be the death of her someday. "Ready to go, love?" He reached out his arm and she links hers with his. "I certainly am, sir. Care to tell me where we are going?" She asks and all he did was smile at her.

When they drove out of town she turned her head so she could look at him. "Killian? Where are you taking me?" "Don't worry Emma, I am not going to kidnap you. I am just taking you out of town so nothing reminds you of the bad things that have happened." He gives her a quick look and then shifts his eyes back to the road again.

After 15 minutes they stopped and Emma looked at the place. "" _Dearies_?" what a silly name." She says as he opened her door and helped her out of the car. "Don't let the name fool you love. The owner, Mr. Gold is a pain in the ass but the food here is excellent"

They walk in and a man greats them. "Welcome to Dearies, did you make a reservations?" "Yes we did, they name is Jones." Emma gives Killian a surprised look, when did he made reservations? "I made reservations in the cab, I thought you might like to get a way." Killian whispered in her ear and she gratefully entwines her fingers with his.

He shares a look with the waiter and pulls Emma's chair back so she can sit down easier. When she sits down he leans over, gives her a soft kiss on her neck and pushes her chair closer towards the table. He quickly walks around and sits down on his own chair.  
The waiter gives them a menu and walks away so they can make a decision on what to eat.

When the waiter comes back, Killian orders for the both of them food and a bottle of the best wine. "You do know that you are the designated driver, right?" She jokes when he pours in two glasses. "Really? I thought you would drive us home so I could drink this amazing wine." They both start laughing, clink their glasses and each take a sip.

"Oh this taste so good" Emma closes her eyes and enjoys the after taste of the wine. When she opens her eyes again she sees the entertained looks in Killian's eyes. "See something you like, Jones?" She teases him and he shrugs. "Well yes, ma'am. I was just thinking that I would like to see that look on your face when we do a certain other activity." He rubs his fingers over his bottom lip, clearly flirting with her. But she doesn't mind him doing that. As a matter of fact, him touching his lips like that, arouses her. She could feel the fire burning up again and her cheeks are starting to turn red again.

"Well well Jones, what kind of activity do you have in mind then?" She teases back at him. "I think you know to which activity I am referring to, love." He would not give in that easy as if he planned on making her sweat. And not only figuratively speaking. "I sure know to what you are referring but maybe I just want to hear you say it." "Let me stay for the night again and I will _show_ you to what I am referring."

She knows he was joking but there was also a certain seriousness in the tone of that sentence. While eating dinner she thought about his words, constantly wondering if she was ready for a certain next step in their "relationship".

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	16. Chapter 16

**Yay, a new chapter :D Finally finished writing chapter 17 last weekend and hopefully I can finish chapter 18 soon as well.**

 **Like always, a very big thank you to my friend R. who is kind enough to keep checking my chapters and giving me feedback. If there is still any mistake in this story then the blame is on me**

 **Unfortunatly, I do not own any of these characters and the show.**

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Chapter 16

"So, Graham told me he knows you since you two were 14. You guys went to school together?" She quickly changed the subject.

"Aye, that we did." He puts down his knife and fork and stares into her eyes. "He just moved to my hometown, Drogheda, sometime in the middle of the semester. When he walked into our class there was only one seat empty, the one next to me. Ever since we became, and still are, best friends." He picks up his fork and plays with his food a bit.

"He helped me a lot in the time Liam died. He was by my side every single day. He knows me better than I even know myself." "That's lovely" Emma says and Killian gives her a soft smile.

They had finished their main course and the waiter came to clear their table. "Would you like to see the dessert menu?" The waiter asked and she looked at Killian. He gave her a nod that it was okay. "Yes, please." The waiter nodded at the two of them and slowly backed up.

"Why did Graham come to America with you? I mean, was it his idea?" The question came rambling out. "As matter of fact, it was Graham's idea. His boss offered him a job in America and he said I should come with him. To many things have happened back home and he saw me slipping away more and more each day." The waiter came back with their menu but Emma already knew what she would order. Killian ordered the same and the waiter left again.

She saw in his eyes that thinking about home still wasn't easy for him, she understands that and feels guilty for asking all these questions. "I'm sorry Killian, I should not have asked you these questions. They are rather personal and I can see I make you upset. It was not my intention to ruin our evening out."

He looks up at her, reached out to her hand and took them in his own hands. "Don't feel sorry Emma, you are not ruining our evening." He says as he squeezed her hands a bit. "Yes, talking about home still makes me upset but I'm dealing better with it each day. You should have seen me before I met you. I didn't even talked about home at all."

The waiter comes back with their dessert, chocolate flavored ice cream. Killian smiled at her, the look on her face seemed to amuse him. "Eat your ice cream, Killian." She sort of hissed at him and started to laugh.

"What kind of work does Graham do around here?" She asks him and puts a spoon full of ice cream in her mouth. She closed her eyes as the flavor hits all of the tastebuds in her tongue. "Graham is a real estate agent in the village next to Storybrooke. He still has his business in Drogheda but he wanted to see how things would work out for him in America."

After dessert they asked for the check and walked around the streets a bit. Neither of them are ready to go home just yet but they both didn't say anything about it. They kept quiet for a bit, taking in the silence of the town. Emma loves living here but after what Killian said about Graham's profession she can't stop thinking about starting over somewhere else.

"Killian, what if I want to move out?" She suddenly asks him. He stops abruptly and it took her a few seconds to notice. She turns around so she faces him, blue eyes giving her a confused look. "What exactly do you mean by "moving out"?" He asks as he steps closer. She takes both of his hands and sighs.

"Well, a lot has happened lately and my house reminds me of all those events and I'm not sure if I want to stay there anymore." "I get that, lass. But where do you want to live? Do you still want to stay in Storybrooke?" His questions came rambling out and she realized what she has done, he thinks she's going to leave her. A desperate look covers his entire face and his eyes are opened wide.

"You know what, forget what I said. Let's go to your place and see what's on Netflix." She gave him a smile and before he could say anything about her moving out plans she started to walk, her left hand tightly in his right hand. He didn't say anything anymore and walked along with her. The entire walk home was awkward as they both held their mouth shut.

When they arrived at Killian's apartment Emma hesitated about going in. The evening went perfectly until she had to open her big mouth about moving away. She didn't know what she was thinking, the words came out before she knew it. And now, with this awkward silence, things have changed.

"What's wrong, Swan?" She looked at him, eyes wide opened and breathing heavily. She looks up to him, suddenly wanting him more than anything else in the world. He looks down at her, still some confusion in his eyes. She reaches up, placing one hand on his neck and pulling him down so his lips touches her. He softly kisses her but when he senses that she is demanding for his lips he turns the pace up a notch.

She opens his lips with her tongue, meeting him halfway. She feels him kicking his door open, places his hands underneath her ass and pulls her up. She swings her legs around his waist, running her hand through his hair. He lets out a soft groan and she presses herself closer to him. The door slams shut and he takes her towards the couch.

He lays her down softly, making sure she is comfortable enough. She looks at him, biting her lower lip and playing with the buttons of his shirt. He rubs her cheek, looking deeply into her green eyes. When his thumb rubs the lip she was biting a few seconds ago, she kissed it while she kept looking at him. "Are you sure, love?" He asks and when she gives him a nods at him he takes of his jacket and slowly comes closer to her, placing his lips back on hers. She spreads her legs a bit so it was more comfortably for him to lay on top of her.

He rubs his lower body against her private parts and she arches her back. He places his arm underneath her neck while going down to her breasts with the other. He takes her left breast in his hands, it fits in his hand perfectly. While he rubs and squeezes it he kisses her lips again, Emma could feel the fire going through her entire body.

When she lets out a little groan of pleasure, he lets go of her and takes her shirt in both hands. Emma realizes he wants to remove it from her body and holds both of her hands up, making it easier for him to remove the shirt that clearly was getting in the way. She feels a stroke of cold running through her body now that his was not close anymore. She shivers a bit and Killian stops. "Everything okay love?" He asks concerned. "Couldn't be any better it's just that it feels so cold when you're not close."

He quickly throws her shirt to the other end of the room, takes his of as well and throws it on the ground. He comes back on top of her, body against body with no space between. The heat instantly came back, this felt so good. She pulls him in closer, demanding another hot and passionate kiss from him. He didn't refuse but kisses her like he has never kissed her before. Sexual attraction that has been build up for a while now both running through both of their veins.

A sudden feeling of fear hits her entire body and she freezes. "Love, are you sure everything is okay? You know I won't do anything that you're not comfortable with." He looks down at her, his ocean like eyes gazing in to hers. "I know you won't. I really want this. It's just…Well…I don't know what it is."

"If you want to stop then that's fine, nothing to be embarrassed about." She thought about his words. "I'm sorry Killian. I don't want to rush this. I want this, more than anything. But what if it changes things?" She looks at him, uncertain and vulnerable.

"I know what you mean, love, but to me it won't change a thing. I already love you more than anything and I won't love you less if you don't want to be intimate with me just jet. It would only love you more even though that's impossible." She looks at him, his eyes filled with pure love.

And she loves him, goodness she loves him, she's just not ready to say it yet. Killian climbs off of her, reaching out his hand to help her up. She takes his hand, gets up and presses her head against his chest, unable to tell which one of their bodies was so warm. He gives her a soft kiss on her crown. "Let me get you something warm to wear." Killian says as he gets up and walks out of the room.

She covers up her upper body with her arms, suddenly embarrassed to sit her without her shirt and only wearing her bra and jeans. He comes back and she gladly puts on the hoodie her brought with him. "Now, let me makes us some hot cocoa and watch a funny movie together. Okay?" She nods and gives him a small smile.

She may not have done what she wanted to do, she really wanted to do, just being around him made her extremely happy right now. He walks into the kitchen and she buries her nose into the sweater, it smelt like him, like he had worn it recently. She could see him looking at her from the corner of her eyes and she turns her head around to face him.

"What?" She asks him sarcastically and he starts to laugh. "Nothing. It's just that you look so adorable wearing my clothes." She rolls her eyes and grabs the remote control to select a movie. By the time she had found one, Killian came back with their drinks. He sits beside her, pulls her into his arms and she lays on top of his chest the entire movie.

After the movie is over, they both sit up and stretches their bodies. "What would you like to do now Emma? Do you want to watch another movie or do you want me to take you home?" She looks at his lips, wetting her own with her tongue.

"I want neither of them." She than says. "What is it that you want then?" He raises his eyebrow, one of the many things Emma loves about him. It was the small things that could make her go crazy, raising his eyebrow and scratching the back of his ear are by far her two favorite things.

"If you don't mind, can I stay here tonight? I really don't want to go back to the home that still scares me." "Of course I won't mind if you stay here, you are always welcome. Let me set up the bedroom for you, make sure you have all that you need and I'll grab my stuff." He gets up and is ready to walk away as she grabs his hand and makes him stop.

"Grab your stuff? What do you mean by that?" She looks at him, confused. "If I sleep on the couch tonight I need a blanket and a pillow of course." He gives her a wink and walks away. She doesn't want him to sleep on the couch, she needs him beside her. In his bed.

She goes after him, finding him in the bedroom. He's placing new bed sheets on the bed, which was cute to see. It was a nice change for once, seeing a man doing things around the house. Neal never used to do stuff like that. _You better not start thinking about that asshole right now_ , she thought to herself.

She walks towards him, swinging her arms across his body and placing her head to his back. "Stay Killian, stay with me tonight. Please don't leave me here alone." She begs him to stay and he rubs her hands as she could feel him sigh softly. "I wish I could Emma, I want nothing more than to lay beside you. But I think it is better to give you some space and sleep on the couch tonight." He unfolds her hands from his body, turns around and takes her in his arms this time.

"I made the mistake to sleep in the same bed as you the first night you were here. And you are right, we don't need to rush this. So, as the gentleman that I am, I am taking the couch tonight. He gives her a kiss on her cheek and walks out the room, leaving a lonely Emma behind.

She sighs as she sits on the bed, he was right. This was probably the best thing to do. She could use some time alone. As much as she loves being around him, she needs to take it slow. What she feels when she is around him feels so good, she cannot mess this up. She refuses to mess this up, this felt like she had always thought what love would feel like.

She takes off the hoodie he had given her and slips into one of his shirts. Then she gets into bed, turned to the side where Killian would be lying if he was here. She rubs her hand over the spot where his pillow belongs, never has a bed felt as empty as it does now.

Suddenly sleeps hit her, she felt as if she hasn't slept in days. So she closed her eyes, feeling alone and sad but she was too tired to let out a single tear. Soon she fell asleep, with the sound of the television far away.

" _I am sorry Emma, this is just not going to work." "Killian, please! Don't do this!" Emma starts to cry, long strokes of tears running down her cheeks and falling onto the ground. "Emma stop crying, it's pathetic for a grown woman to be crying like a little kid!" Killian snapped, getting angry at her._

" _See, this is exactly why I am leaving you. All the crying and clinging on to me… For fuck sake, give me some space, woman!" Seeing the angry look on Killian's face made her cry even louder. She had seen this all before, anger building up. It was the first time she had seen it with Killian but she had seen this with Neal almost every day._

 _She doesn't know how it could have come this far. Suddenly he said he's leaving her. They were sitting on the couch, watching TV. Killian had been quiet ever since he came home but she just let him be. He could have had a rough day at work and she knew he wanted some space when he had those kinds of days. They had spaghetti for dinner, it was Emma's turn too cook and her boyfriend loves spaghetti. So as a surprise she cooked his favorite food._

 _But Killian said he wasn't that hungry and instead he took a shower. She could feel some tension between them but chose to ignore it. As he was taking his shower she tried to eat but wasn't that hungry anymore. When he came walking back into the living room, his hair still wet, she saw the tension in his shoulders. There was definitely something wrong._

 _They stayed quiet the whole time until Killian suddenly said that it's not going to work. After sadness a burst of anger came up inside. "What the hell Killian? After 6 months you suddenly say "it's not going to work"? You couldn't have decided that a little time sooner? You have any idea how much energy I've put into this so called relationship? Fuck you Jones, you're not better than me!"_

 _She tried to walk away but Killian grabbed her wrist to make her stop. "Don't ever shout at me like that again, Swan!" He was getting angry too, his grip around her wrist started to hurt. "Let me go, Jones. Get your dirty hands off of me!" Before she knew it her cheek started to hurt. As she laid her hand over the hurting spot she realized it, he had hit her._

"Emma?Emma wake up!" Suddenly she jumps up by the sound of his voice and climbs away from him. "Emma, are you alright? It sounded like you had a bad dream." She could hear he was truly worried about her and he wanted to take her in his arms. "Stop Killian, please don't come any closer." She feels bad as she speaks those words and sees the look on his face

"Swan? What is going on? Please talk to me? Does it have to do with your dream?" He doesn't come any closer but isn't backing away either. "Yes." Is all she whispers. "In my dream you said you would leave me and when I wanted to walk away you made me stop and punched me in my face."

She doesn't look at him, too scared to watch his face as the words came out of her mouth. He sighed and sat there quietly for a few minutes. "Swan, look at me please." When she didn't respond to his request he placed his hand underneath her chin, making her look up at him gently. "Never ever think that I would do such horrible things to you." A tear wanted to scroll down her face but with his fingers he gently wiped it away. "I am not like him and I will never be like him. The only mission I have right now is to make you happy, with me. I will never screw that up and you know that."

What he said was true, he would never do that to her. But still, the dream had felt so real and she got scared. She was wrong with pushing him away and she leans in closer to him to give him a soft kiss. "I'm sorry Killian, I don't know why I did that." He held her in her arms, slowly rocking her to make her comfortable again. "it's okay, love. Why don't you go back to sleep? At least try to get some sleep. I will be right down the hall if you need me okay?"

She nodded against his shoulder and he kissed her on the crown of her head. Then he laid her down, tucks her in and before he knows it, she has fallen into a deep sleep again. _"I don't want you to be afraid of me, Swan. I will make sure that you will be happier than you thought you could be. I love you."_ He thought to himself as he watched her before he closed the door.


	17. Chapter 17

**A/N: Sorry for the delay! Sometimes life gets in the way of things and messes everything up.**

 **Like always, a BIG thank you to my friend R. for checking all my stupid mistakes. If there is still any mistake left then blame me for it.**

 **None of the characters belong to me, Adam & Eddy and ABC are the rightful owners.**

 **Enjoy!**

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Chapter 17

A few days later Emma got a call from Mary Margaret, her and David rented a lake house for the weekend and she asked if Emma and Killian wanted to join them. It would be a great opportunity for Emma to forget everything and Mary Margaret and David would have the chance to get to know Killian.

"That sounds lovely Mary Margaret! It has been a long time since you and I had a decent chat so it would be great to catch up with you and David. Let me call Killian real quick but I think he would love to come too."

She said goodbye to Mary Margaret and dialled Killian's number. "Swan, I was just thinking about you. Do you have magical gifts of knowing when you're wandering through my mind?" Killian said as he answered his phone. "Jones, that's lame. Even by your standards." She replied and heard him chuckle. "You're right, love. But I truly was thinking about you." "Yeah, yeah. Listen, Mary Margaret and David rented a Lake House for the weekend and they asked if we would like to join them." He stayed quiet for a moment, thinking it over. "Yeah, that sounds great. I would love to spend a weekend with you and meet your friends." They chatted for a few minutes and then said goodbye. Emma quickly texted Mary Margaret to say that they would join them.

Mary Margaret and David went to the lake house on Friday but Emma and Killian would join them in the morning. Killian had to work late and the drive was too long. So Emma and Killian agreed on him picking her up the next morning.

She woke up early, excitement already running through her whole body. Killian wouldn't be here for the next two hours so she still had plenty of time to get her stuff together and take a shower. She got out of bed, puts on her bathrobe and walks into the living room.

The place felt empty, she was still not used to being alone in this house. "Maybe I should get a cat or something." She said to herself as she puts on the TV to watch the news. Somehow her mind wandered off and she thought about Killian and spending a weekend with him.

She hasn't seen him since the night she stayed in his house and had that horrible nightmare. He was so sweet to her, made her breakfast again and woke her up with a soft kiss on her cheek. She loved each moment she was around him, enjoying his soft touches and his smiles. His smiles were mesmerizing and don't get her started about his eyes.

His eyes looked like the ocean, she could seriously drown in them. His eyes could make her body burst in flames with just a simple look at her. She thinks he has no clue what he could do to her, make her feel the things she feels when she is with him.

She had to admit that she never has felt the way she did around him. She thought that what she felt with Neal was love but now she wasn't so sure about it. She loved him, that was for sure. But maybe she stayed with him because she thought that it was love.

She sighed and got up. She really has to start packing or else she wouldn't be ready on time. She walks back into the bedroom, grabs her weekend bag and opens her closet. The weather was going to be hot this weekend so she took out some summer dresses, two pairs of flip-flops and placed them in the bag. She would pack the rest after she had her shower because she still needed to use them afterwards.

After she has taken her shower, got herself dressed and packed the rest the doorbell rang. She opened the door and Killian just stood there, looking at her. "Swan, you look stunning." Was all he could say. Her cheeks turned a bit red and she smiled. "Glad you like it, Jones" She said as she opened the door wider to let him in. "How can a man not like a gorgeous woman in a very lovely dress. It's nice to see you in something other than a jeans. Not that I don't like you wearing jeans or anything." He started rambling, something that happened more frequently when he gets nervous.

"You look lovely as well, Killian. Let me get my things and we're set to go." "Hold on Swan, I forgot something." He said when she turned around to get her things. She turned around to face him again and he came closer to her. He softly grabbed her hands, pulled her in his arms and placed his lips on hers. At first the kiss was soft, a bit hesitant, but soon it became more passionate. "Easy tiger, we have to go soon" She said as she got out of his grip to get her stuff.

"Swan, you are killing me woman." He said with a smile and took over her stuff. He opened the door for her and waited outside until she had locked the place up. "I was thinking about getting a cat or something." She said out of the blue and laughed as she sees Killian's look. "Seriously, Swan? You don't really look like a cat person to me." He opened the door to his car for her and let her get in. Then he walked to the trunk to place her bag with his.

"I said "or something" so it doesn't really have to be a cat." He looks at her and strokes back a strand of her hair behind her ear. "Whatever makes you happy, Love. Do you feel lonely at your place?" He asks seriously. She looks outside as he starts the car and drives off, they had a two hour drive ahead of them.

"I don't know, sometimes. It's just so quiet when I'm alone, you know." "I get that, love. It's not easy being alone after all that time. But trust me, it will get better." She gave him a smile and he raised his eyebrow at her. "I was thinking, love, if you feel lonely at home you are always more than welcome to come to my place."

She knew he meant it and she wouldn't mind to spend time with him, but it feels a bit like she's rushing. "I know that, Killian, and thank you for saying that. But I can't be with you every time I get lonely. I have to learn how to be on my own again. And you know I love spending time with you. It's just, I don't know, so confusing right now."

She looked outside the window, not wanting to face him somehow. She thought he would think that she's desperate or something. "I think it is best for you if you take some time to think everything through. Maybe this weekend would be a great environment to just let things go. You know I will always be there for you, Swan. I have the time, I'm not going anywhere. And I hope you won't go anywhere as well."

Now it was his turn to look outside the window to avoid looking at her. For the last part of the ride they didn't say a word to each other, which was nice. The atmosphere between them was clear, they were enjoying the other beside them. The lake house was still thirty minutes away from her so she turned on the radio, after she looked at Killian and he gave her a nod to show her she could turn it on.

She switched the radio to cd, curious to find out to what music Killian listens to in his car. A song she never heard before came through the speakers in the dashboard and she closed her eyes to listen to the lyrics.

 _Might have known you'd be my savior_

 _When I'd fallen out of favor_

 _Might have known you'd be my savior_

 _You saved this perfect stranger_

Emma's eyes flew open, touched by the lyrics. It felt like it was written for _her_. Killian was and still is her savior. But most of all, he _saved_ her. She looked at him, wanting to see his face. As she turned her head to face him there was a grin on his face. "I know, Swan. I know." Was all he said and she could not help but think that he was thinking the same thing.

"Who's singing this?" She asks him, avoiding to say more about the lyrics. "Actually, it's a band called The Enemies. They come from Drogheda and they are real close friends of mine. Sometimes, when I was still back home, I did a few gigs with them if they were nearby." She was surprised. Not to hear that they are close friends but about Killian doing some gigs with them.

"I didn't know you could sing." Killian starts to laugh. "There's more to me than meets the eye, Love. But aye, I can sing. And I play guitar as well. I even have a few at home. Remind me that next time that you are at my place I'll show them to you." He turned his head around to face the road in front of him again and takes the exit of the highway. They were almost there, about fifteen minutes left.

"Could you, uhm, sing a bit for me?" She asks him hesitantly. "I knew you were going to ask that." He smiles a soft smile and starts to sing along to the music.

 _Who we all are comes down to what we know_

 _Who we become, surely time will tell us when to run_

 _The warmth just feels so right_

 _The question burns_

 _Never know which way to turn_

His voice is just, amazing. She looks at him, stunned with amazement. "Killian…That was…" "A one time thing" He responds quickly but with a smile on his face. "Come on Killian, you can't be serious about that! I could listen to you the whole day, your voice is beautiful." She could see his cheeks turning red for once, she has never seen a man with that much confidence blushing like a little girl. "There is only one thing beautiful in this car and that's you, Swan." Now it was her time to blush again and she looked out the window.

After a few minutes they saw the lake house in front of them. It wasn't huge but big enough for the four of them. As soon as they parked the car Mary Margaret came running out and headed towards them. Killian got out of the car, quickly walked around the car to open Emma's door. "Thank you" she said to him and opened her arms to hug Mary Margaret.

"Emma! We are so happy that you guys are here! David is about to make lunch, we thought you might be hungry after the drive." She was still hugging her friend, Emma missed her. Emma made the promise to herself to spend more time with her friends again after the weekend.

"Hungry? I'm starving" She jokes and finally lets go of Mary Margaret. She saw David coming out and both of them smiled as they saw each other. "Emma! You made it!" David and Emma walked towards each other and hugged each other too after David gave her a quick kiss on her cheek. "Good to see you and look at you." He took her hand and spins her around. "Don't you look lovely today!" She pushes against his shoulder a bit, smiling. "David, you are overreacting!" "No, Emma, I am serious. It's nice to see you in a dress instead of jeans for once."

David lays his arm around her shoulder and pulls her in closer. Than they notice Killian, waiting for Emma to introduce him after their little reunion. "Right, David and Mary Margaret, this is Killian. Killian, these are my best friends Mary Margaret and David."

Mary Margaret is standing closer to him than David so she reaches out her arm to shake Killian's hand. "Welcome Killian, nice to finally meet you." She says as she smiles at him. "Pleasure is all mine, mi 'lady. Thank you both for inviting me. "He says as he shakes Mary Margaret's hand and looks at David. He let's go of Mary Margaret's hand and walks towards David to shake his as well. "No problem at all, Killian. We're both interested at the man that makes Emma happy." They both smile at each other and when Killian looks at Emma, he gives her a wink.

"Come on in, let me show you your bedroom for the weekend." Mary Margaret claps her hands together enthusiastic and laces her arm with Emma's and pulls her into the house. Killian picks up their bags and David takes one from him. "I'll help you with that." "Thanks, mate." They both follow the ladies back into the house.

When Emma steps into the house she takes a good look around. The living room is huge, it's even bigger than her whole apartment. To the left she sees the kitchen with a cooking island and she suddenly stops walking. She let's go of Mary Margaret's arm and walks into the kitchen. She touches the kitchen island's counter tops and let her fingers slide over it as she walks around it. "You have a kitchen island, I always wanted a kitchen like that." She says to no one in particular as she keeps looking around the kitchen.

"I know, isn't it a kitchen from heaven?" David walked into the room, he was the cook at their house. He loved to make things and between us, Mary Margaret didn't really know how to cook. "So gorgeous." She says as she walks up to him. When she stands beside him he lays his arm around her and pulls her in a bit closer. "You know kid, in your next house you have to make sure you have a kitchen with a cooking island." He says to her.

"Your next house?" Killian walked into the room to take a look around as well. He looked at her, surprised. They haven't really talked further when Emma mentioned that she might want to move out and Emma got the feeling he is thinking that she had discussed it with her friends. "Yeah, you know, in case she ever moves out of that small apartment of hers." David explained to Killian. He was still not convinced, and he raised his eyebrow to Emma. "Well, I don't think I'm going to move out anytime soon." She said more to Killian than to David.

"Let's go see the rest of the house." David said to them and walked out of the room. "What was that all about?" Killian whispered to Emma who shrugged and walked after David. She took Killian's hand before walking out the kitchen, laced her fingers with his and squeezed it a bit. "Forget what he said, Killian." She smiled at him and pulled him out of the room. Mary Margaret and David walked upstairs and stopped in front of the first door on the right. "This is your bedroom." Mary Margaret said and David opened the door.

Emma and Killian walked into the room, both surprised by the size of it. Like the living room it was a big room. There was a king sized bed by the left wall and a dressing table by the right one. The room had 2 big, glass doors that gave access to a balcony. Emma walked towards the doors, opened them and walked outside. "You know what, I'm sure I'm going to love this place." She smiled at their friends and turned around to watch the view. The house was surrounded by trees and a large lake with a pier.

"What a great view." Killian said as he came standing behind her. He closed his arms around her body and gives her a small kiss on her neck. "It is, isn't it. We could go swimming tomorrow." She says as a smile appears on her face. She was quite curious to see what he would look like in swimming trunks. But then her smile dropped down as she thinks about being in a bikini in front of him. "We'll see about that." He says to her.

"Killian, would you like to go downstairs to make lunch? I think I might need some help and the girls will have some time to catch up." David suddenly asks and Killian let's go of Emma. "Sure, what are you planning on making?" "Not sure about that just yet. Maybe you can think of something?" The men keep discussing lunch as they walk out of the room and downstairs again. As soon as they are out of sight, Mary Margaret looks at Emma and smiles like she has a big secret. "What?" Emma asks her. "He's cute! I know we have seen him at the diner a while ago but if I see the way he looks at you…He is madly in love with you Emma!"

Emma did not know how to respond to that so instead she looked at the floor. "And if I may be honest with you, you look at him with the exact same look in your eyes. A look I've never seen in the time you were with Neal." Emma felt her cheeks turn red again, something that happened quite a lot lately. She looked at the ground shyly. "I have no idea what you are talking about, Mary Margaret." "You know what I am talking about Emma. You may not realize it yourself but he is your happy ending"

Emma starts to laugh, he is not her happy ending. "Mary Margaret, hate to tell you this but there is no such thing as happy endings." Mary Margaret chuckles "Emma, building your walls back up to keep out the pain is one thing but, it also might keep out the love." She steps closer to Emma, placing her hands in Emma's and looks at her more seriously. "I know you have been through a lot, and not just recently, but try to enjoy the good things in your life. And right now, Killian is a good thing."

Emma watches her friend walk out of the room. She gets annoyed, she hates it when her friend is right, Killian is a good thing. Since the moment they met he has been nothing but nice to her. He stood by her, helped her when Neal was being an asshole again. Everything just felt so much easier around him and that is precisely what scares her. Maybe she should enjoy what she has with Killian, whatever that might be. She looks up as the door opens again. She expects to see Mary Margaret but it's Killian. "There you are, love. Is everything alright?" She could see a bit of worry flickering in his eyes and she smiles at him. "Yes, I was just thinking about something."

He steps closer into the room and closes the door before walking towards Emma. He takes her in his arms and swipes a lock of her hair from her face. "You were thinking about me, Swan?" He says with a flirting smile. "How did you know I was thinking about you?" She chuckles. "How can you not think about a devilishly handsome man like this?" She looks deeply in his blue eyes and almost loses herself.

"Killian, do you believe in happy endings?" She suddenly asks. "Happy endings? I don't know, love. Never really thought about such fairytale things. Not really my kind of style when it comes to thinking." He just kept on flirting with her while Emma repeats Mary Margaret's words in her head; _"Enjoy the good things in your life"._

"Shall we go downstairs, love? David has everything set for the lunch and since he made a lot I'd say we better not disappoint him and let all that good food go to waste." He takes his hands of her arms and takes her left hand. She looks at it and it feels so good. She could get used to this. She looks up to him, finding his eyes and his shyly smile that she loves. Before they walk out the room she squeezes his hand and he stops, looks at her a bit surprisingly. She doesn't say anything but instead she pulls him in closer and locks her lips with his.

"What did I do to deserve such a sweet kiss, love?" Killian asked when she let's go of him. She looks at the ground. "Well, just because." She said teasingly and walked out the door and down the stairs. She could hear Killian sigh and a pleased smile appeared on her face.

" _Killian wasn't lying when he said David made a lot of food",_ she thought to herself as she sighed. "Dear goodness, I ate way too much" she says as she sits back and rubs her stomach. "If this is what you make for lunch, mate, then I don't want to know what we eat tonight." Killian joked and David slaps him on his shoulder. "When you eat too much you can't run when I come after you." He says and Killian's eyes widened. 'When you come after me? What's that supposed to mean?" He looks from David to Mary Margaret and back to David again.

His eyes widen even more when everyone stays quiet, nobody saying a word until Emma sighs. "Oh come on David, cut him some slack." Her and David start to laugh and Killian is more confused than he will ever be. "I'm sorry Emma, I just had to do it. You should have seen the look on your face, mate." David says and starts to laugh louder. It took a while but finally Killian figured out what they were doing and saying and he starts to laugh softly with them.

David and Emma are still laughing as they both start clearing the table. "Don't pay attention to those clowns, Killian. They were just teasing you a bit." Mary Margaret says as she starts to get up to help Emma and David. "Please, sit. I'll help them out." He gets up and picks up some of the left overs. "Thank you Killian, you're a good man. Emma is lucky to have found a man like you." Killian starts to chuckle. "No, mi 'lady, I'm the one who is lucky to have found a woman like Emma." He answers and walks to the kitchen.

"Thanks, Killian." David takes the left overs out of Killian's hands and places them on the kitchen counter. "Emma, why don't you show Killian the lake?" He turns to face Emma and gives her a wink. Not sure that she knows what he means she takes Killian by his hand and pulls him out of the kitchen gently. David has teased him enough for today, no need to make it any worse.

When they reached the lake Killian smiled. "This is gorgeous. Shall we look at the sunset tonight?" He says as he placed his arms around her shoulders and pulls her closer to his side. "I would love that, Killian." She wraps her arm around his waist and Killian gives her a kiss on the crown of her head. Mary Margaret's words come back to her again, "Enjoy the good things.". She still had a long way to go and she hoped Killian would stick around long enough to let her deal with everything and get her life back on track. Because, Killian was a very good thing in her life and she really wanted to hold on to that.

She looks up at him, a sudden feeling of affection running through her body. She could say it, to this man, the three words she hates. As soon as she thinks those thoughts she freezes. She hasn't said those words to anyone and she has no ideas where these thoughts are coming from. "Emma? Love, are you alright? Say something, please. You look like you have seen a ghost." Killian takes her face in both his hands, looking at her while trying to figure out what is going on. "I…I..have to go help Mary Margaret with something." She says and walks back to the house, leaving Killian alone and confused behind.

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